An Extra Member
by AntFuze
Summary: What would happen if a different type of person was included when Team 7 was created? What would become of Konoha from just this one persons existance?
1. The Extra Member

This is my mates Fanfic, but he is too much of a lazy ass to put it up himself. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, he has worked hard on it. I will make an update as soon as possible, have alot of tests and crap to do before I can. Oh and I nor any of my friends Own Naruto or any of the Characters.

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Naruto Uzumaki was excited. Who wouldn't be? Today was the day he and all the other children from the Village Hidden in the Leaves will become _Genin_, the lowest rank of ninja. He sat down, not bothering to look around, his mind totally focused on becoming a ninja. He was woken out of his stupor when he heard a voice to his right,

"Hey, Naruto, do you think you could move for a sec?"

He looked to his right and saw Sakura Haruno, the girl of his dreams.

"You want to sit next to _me?_" he asked, hardly daring to believe his luck.

"_You?_ Of course not you, I want to sit next to Sasuke," she said, shattering his dreams.

He looked to his left and saw a ninja by the name of Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto grumbled to himself, _Why is it ALWAYS him, it's not like he's cool or anything._ How wrong he was. Almost all the girls swooned over him, trying to gain his affections, even though it was all for nought.

Then, with a bang and a puff of smoke, Iruka materialised in the middle of the room, startling a few kids in the room, Naruto included,

"Hello there," he said, "I assume you all know why you're here? Yes? Good. Now, in a couple of seconds, the _Jonin_ will enter, and select you to form 3-man squads. You have no choice who you're going to be teamed up with. We tried to even out all the teams."

With a chain-reaction of bangs and smoke, all 10 Jonin appeared in the room, startling Naruto again.

"And here they are," continued Iruka Sensei, "Honourable Jonin, I leave them in your..._capable_...hands."

So saying, and using a Teleportation Jutsu, disappeared.

So the Choosing began. Naruto didn't really listen to the other names, just waiting for his and Sakura's, to see if they were going to be in the same squad. Finally...

"Squad 7, under the instruction of Sensei Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki..." Naruto waited to hear what he wanted to... "Sakura Haruno..." Naruto punched the air, while Sakura's head thumped into the desk, then..."and Sasuke Uchiha." Now it was her turn to punch the air while Naruto's head thumped the desk.

Behind him, a girl called Hinata sighed to herself, she missed being out in Naruto's squad. She harboured a long-standing crush on Naruto, but being shy and quiet, didn't say anything, just hoping one day that he'd pick up the hidden message in her eyes.

Just as the Choosing was coming to a close, the door opened, and in walked Iruka Sensei again, following behind him was a strange looking kid, he looked like he didn't come from Hidden Leaf Village. After a quick consultation with the Jonin, he turned back to the assembled kids,

"This boy's name is Adam Gale, he came from overseas, and he wished to become a ninja."

At this, almost all the kids in the room cracked up laughing, the rest barely holding it in.

"Before you all laugh too much, with no training and exercises you have had, he not only completed the acceptance trials in record time, but with 100% rating."

This shut the room up real fast, for no one else had ever gotten 100%, the closest being Sasuke with 96%. Someone yelled out,

"What was his time?"

"Sasuke's record time is 13:42:73. Adam's was 5:00:00," answered Iruka

The room was dead silent.

"The Jonin have all agreed," Iruka continued, "that he will join Squad 7 with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke."

"Your new Sensei will tell you when and where to meet them tomorrow. Dismissed."

The next day at 8:00am, at the head of the four _Hokage_ heads, squad 7 met. After half an hour, Kakashi finally arrived.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. How is everyone?" he asked, then without waiting for an answer he continued, "good? Excellent! Now we'll do an introduction, you know, go around and introduce ourselves. I'll go first, then to Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and the new kid. My name is Kakashi Hatake, and I have many likes or dislikes. I am the kind of person that doesn't feel like talking about my dreams to people like you. I have goals, but they don't seem important to you. Next."

_What the hell_, thought Sakura, _he didn't tell us anything except his name!_

Naruto started, "Hi, my name's Naruto Uzumaki, my likes are Ramen noodles, playing pranks, and…well, I suppose that's about it," he said

"Ok, Naruto, that was...good," said Kakashi, thinking that this kid was just another run-of-the-mill kid who thought he was better than everyone else, but Naruto wasn't finished yet.

"My dream is to become the next Hokage!" he said, "Then finally people will stop treating me like dirt and finally begin to respect me!"

Kakashi was surprised. This kid had some serious drive. "Ok," he said, pointing at Sakura, "You next."

"Ok, my name's Sakura Haruno, my likes are Sas...ummm, never mind, but my dislikes are NARUTO!!"

Naruto hung his head, moaning to himself.

"Ok... next, Sasuke," said Kakashi

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, the last of the Uchiha clan. I have no likes or dislikes. There seems to be no point in talking about 'dreams' since it is just a word. My goals in life are to restore my clan and to kill a certain _someone_."

Kakashi seemed unperturbed by Sasuke's speech, turning to the next, "Ok Adam, you're up."

"Ok, my name's Adam Gale, and, as you heard, I'm from overseas. I came here to try to become a ninja. When I arrived, I was given the choice of what Village to train at. The...deeds...of Naruto had reached even my ears, not an easy thing, trust me, so I decided to train here."

"Wow," said Naruto, "you came here just because of me?"

"I came to see whether you were as…slow…as people said you were," continued Adam, "I have a...special ability, some would call it."

"Oh?" said Kakashi, "and what might that be?"

"Where I come from, I'm called a Psyker, which is someone with enhanced mental abilities."

"Uh-huh," said Sasuke, "and what might these _enhanced mental abilities _do?"

"Well," answered Adam, "I can read minds, move things without touching them, can recreate the effects of _chakra_, uhmmm, what else? Oh yeah, I can set things on fire just by thinking about it; heaps of cool stuff that you'll see later on."

Sakura was just smothering her laughter, "You actually want us to believe you can do that?"

"Well," said Adam, "if you want proof..."

He looked at a nearby tree and put his hand towards it, palm outwards, fingers slightly clenched. Kakashi was watching Adam's eyes, knowing that if there was going to be any spark of what there was to come, it would show there. There it was! A momentary flash of blue-green fire behind his eyes and suddenly the tree burst into flames. "Now..." Adam said, as if putting on a show. He got his other hand and with an upwards thrusting motion, pulled the tree out of the ground. Then turning the tree on it's side, got both hands and put them together in front of him, knuckles touching, fingers still slightly clenched. Then, pulling his hands apart ripped the tree in half, throwing both halves far away.

Unfortunately, one half flew towards the village.

"Oops," Adam said, "Just let me get that for you."

Extending his hand again, he stopped the tree's flight in mid-air and brought it back towards the four of them slowly. When it was in front of Sakura, he dropped it on the ground in front of her. "Proof enough, yet?" he asked.

_Wow, this guy's really something,_ Kakashi thought, _if I tried something like that, I'd feel wasted with the amount of energy used. But he's not even puffed!_

"Ok," Kakashi said, "That's enough for today. Meet me at the Southsway Bridge at 7:00am. Don't eat breakfast; you might throw up at the test I've got planned for you."

After the four of them broke up, Adam went looking around the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Once he turned around to see something behind him, and he saw a girl following him, although he did not know her. As soon as he turned around she turned away, as if trying to hide she had been following him.

"Hey, what were you following me for?" Adam called out

As soon as he said that, the girl turned started running, so Adam gave chase, not about to leave this interesting find unresolved. The girl was extremely agile, as you'd expect from a ninja, and a girl. She was also extremely easy to follow, however, and eventually, she gave up, slumping against the wall of a house, a fair way away from the village. Adam sat on his heels across from her, not letting his guard down for a second. Although the girl was breathing heavily, Adam was not the least bit out of breath.

"Now, I'll ask again, what were you following me for? Were you told to spy on me?"

"No! Not spy! I just wanted to see you, that's all," she answered in a very soft voice.

"Hmmmm...Your mind, it is closed to me. Tell me, who taught you?"

"What do you mean? I do not understand," she answered, her eyes wide.

"But I...ah, you have the Byakugan. That would explain it. But with a little circumnavigating...there. Free entry."

"W-what do you mean '_free entry_'?" she asked fearfully.

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about it, I'm just mumbling to myself. It's just that now I can see into your mind. Oh my, you _are_ focused on Naruto aren't you?" he said with a slight smile.

"W-what? H-how can you...? Get out of my head!!" she said, her voice rising.

"Hey, someone's angry!" said Adam, "I wonder why...let's see what we can find in here."

"No! No!! You aren't allowed to look there!!" the girl screamed.

"What? Oh, ok then. Let's see...what's your name...ah, _Hinata_. That's a nice name. Time for me to leave," and he withdrew his presence from her mind.

Now, totally sure she meant no harm, he sat down next to her with a small sigh, put an arm around her, and hugged her, knowing that having an unknown presence in your mind was a scary thing.

"Look," he said, "I'm sorry I had to do that, but it's become instinct to read the minds of people to make sure they don't mean me any harm. It's like an instinct to survive."

She turned into him, her head against his chest, Adam still talking soothingly to her. When the sobs finally stopped, he put a finger under her chin and made her look into his eyes.

"You know, people say you can learn a lot from people by searching their eyes," Hinata said.

"Really?" asked Adam, "and what do mine say?"

"Your eyes say that you have had a hard life, with little love or compassion. Am I right?"

Adam was surprised, "Yes, you are right. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing of great importance," she said, "now, see if you can tell what mine say."

"Ok," said Adam, "I'll give it a try. Yours say your life has been pretty good. You have a mother, father and brother, a few years older than you, called Neji. Am I getting close?"

Hinata's eyes were wide open, "You were looking into my mind again weren't you?"

"The eyes are the easiest conduit to the mind," said Adam with a slight smile, "now, I have to go. Do you wish me to tell Naruto how you feel about him? He has a right to know."

"Oh, um...yes, please tell him," said Hinata, blushing, once again becoming the shy girl with the soft voice.

"Ok, I will. One thing though, even though you like him, he may not be willing to return the sentiments, for he has a crush on another girl, also in squad 7."

"Sakura?" she asked, "why her?"

"I know not, save that he does," said Adam, "Now, I must leave. Goodbye."

So saying, he jumped to the roof and bounded away. A few blocks later, he ran into a boy, standing on the roof with his back to him.

"Neji. Why are you here?" asked Adam

Neji turned around in surprise, "How do you know my name?"

With a slight smile, Adam said, "Your sister told me, in a roundabout sort of way."

"That's the thing I wish to talk about. Keep your hands off her. I saw you, I don't know what you did to her, but from now on, leave her alone."

"Oh, and pray tell, Neji," said Adam, "how do you plan to stop me? I think you would rather me as her boyfriend than, say, Naruto Uzumaki?"

"She likes Naruto? How do you know this?" Neji asked

"It matters not, just do not bother me again. Whatever I wish to do, you cannot stop me. Take heart though, I do not use people for selfish needs."

"You want to see how I stop you? Like this!" yelled Neji, throwing himself at Adam.

Adam put his hand out, the same way as when he uprooted the tree, and Neji stopped in midair, unable to move. "See, Neji? _This_ is how I will stop you. Bother me again, and I shall throw you from the roof. Now leave." Adam lowered his hand, releasing the power.

"How did you do that?!" asked Neji

"If you wish to survive, never ask me that again," answered Adam, jumping over Neji, and into the distance.

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Ok, well this is only the first 5 pages of the fanfic, alot more to come XD I hope you enjoyed it. I know I have XD And I know, the Adam character is WAY too strong. I'm making him change that so that will be fixed in the future! (I hated it to :P)


	2. The Test

The next day, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke met at the allotted point and time, but Adam did not arrive. About half an hour later, Kakashi Sensei appeared on one of the beams supporting the bridge saying, "Sorry for being late, I got lost on the road of Life. But wait, where's Adam?"

A voice spoke behind Kakashi, "Staking out to see when and where you'd arrive."

Kakashi turned around, surprised, and saw Adam standing on the next beam behind him.

"Ah, I see. Well, now that we're all here, follow me," Kakashi said, bounding away into the trees.

On the way to wherever Kakashi was leading them, jumping through thick trees, from branch to branch, Adam fell back in line with Naruto,

"You know that girl, Hinata?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about her?" Naruto answered.

"She likes you," said Adam, a smile on his face.

"Waaaahhh??!" said Naruto, missing a branch and falling to the ground. Adam dropped gracefully beside him.

"Is that such a big shock? I mean, all you got to do is look at her when she's looking at you to see it."

"Y-yeah, but...you know, I..."

"Like Sakura? Yeah, that's obvious too," said Adam, still with the smile, "now c'mon, we better get going before we lose Kakashi and the others."

Kakashi and the others were standing in the near the edge of a small area surrounded by shoulder-high bushes. In the centre of the area, there was a tree, about 10 meters high.

"There you are. What took you so long?" Kakashi asked.

"Sorry sensei, but we got lost on the road of Life," said Adam, mimicking Kakashi perfectly, "so, we getting started?"

"Ok, this test is to see whether you can get these bells off me before lunch..." Kakashi started.

"But hang on!" said Sakura, "There are only three bells!"

"Ah, Sakura, sharp as always. Every person that gets a bell gets to eat a great lunch I brought along. If my math adds up right that means that one person will be left out. Furthermore, if none of you have gotten a bell by lunchtime, I tie all of you to posts and I eat _my_ lunch in front of you. Sounds fun, huh?"

"You mean_ this_ is why you told us not to have breakfast?!" said Sakura, outraged at her sensei's nerve.

"Well, pretty much, yeah. And you fell for it!" said Kakashi, clearly pleased with his success.

"No, some of us fell for it," said Adam, "because I'm a Psyker, when you told us not to eat breakfast, I took a quick peek into your mind to determine the real reason. I had 2 pieces of toast and a bowl of cereal, so going without lunch won't bother me."

"What about no dinner either?" asked Kakashi.

"You plan to stop me eating dinner how?" asked Adam

"I have my ways, for now, focus on getting the bells. I'm giving you 5 minutes get-away time."

"Why?" asked Adam, "we can just do this!"

As soon as he said it, he darted forward, and grabbed all 3 bells off Kakashi's belt before Kakashi could react. As soon as he had them, he chucked one to each of his fellow team members.

_Wow! That's some speed he's got there_ though Kakashi,_ I wasn't even able to react_.

"So...do we win? I go without lunch, when the time comes, and everybody's happy," said Adam.

"Ok," said Kakashi, "now try it again when I _am_ ready."

"Ok," said Adam, smiling.

_They're hiding themselves very well_ thought Kakashi,_ that's good, except for..._

"Hey, Kakashi sensei, get ready! Let's make this a battle worthy of the two greatest Ninja!"

_...Naruto._

Naruto ran towards Kakashi, drawing a kunai at the same time, and flinging it a Kakashi's face. Before Naruto had taken more than a dozen steps, he tripped on a stringline trap that Kakashi had set up earlier that day. Almost immediately, he was hoisted into the air by a rope that was yanked around his feet. But before he had gone a foot into the air, a kunai split the air, and the rope, making Naruto tumble to the ground. Another kunai followed the first, straight at an unsuspecting Kakashi. As Kakashi ducked, he heard Adam yell out,

"Sasuke, NOW!"

From behind him, he heard a rustling sound as Sasuke dropped from the tree, trying to grab the bells. In a split-second, Kakashi spun around and kicked Sasuke's legs out from under him. As Sasuke fell, Kakashi ran towards the hedges forming a ring around the testing grounds, and, in one huge jump, smashed through them, into the more camouflage-friendly area beyond.

"Hey, nice work Sasuke, you did well. It was my fault, I didn't take into account his sharp reflexes," said Adam.

"Eh, no matter, we'll get another chance. For now, where'd Naruto get to?" answered Sasuke.

"Naruto? I have no clue. I was too focused on you two," said Adam, as way of an apology.

At that very moment, Naruto was thinking to himself how smart he was that he thought of getting the lunch before hand, so he didn't miss out on anything. He was just about to open the first lunch when a kunai _thunk_ed into the tree in front of him. He turned around slowly, fearing what he'd see. He saw it.

"So Naruto, trying to get a jump on the lunch, eh?" it was Kakashi, "well, how can we fix that? Oh, I know! We can tie you to one of the posts now!"

It was 12:15pm when Kakashi decided to show himself to Sasuke and Sakura, who were hiding at separate points around the bushes.

"Well, it's lunchtime, and you still haven't managed to get a bell," said Kakashi, using a Teleportation Jutsu to take both of them to the posts, where they were surprised to see Naruto tied there already. "I had already spent time looking for Adam, but I couldn't find him, so we have to go on without him," Kakashi continued.

"Now," Kakashi said, "do you know why you failed?" No answer. "You failed because you didn't work as a team. I admit, that bit at the start with Sasuke and Adam was good, they almost got the bells, but after trying once, they gave up. You have to remember, you're not working on your own, you're working with a squad. If one of your squad is captured, you don't just leave him, you work together to get him back. For example..." As he said this, he swiped Sasuke's legs out from under him, and ended up with a knee on Sasuke's back, a kunai at his throat "...Sakura, kill Naruto of Sasuke dies."

Sakura froze up; trying to comprehend what Kakashi was saying and doing. Almost as soon as he said it, he got off Sasuke. "That's what I mean," Kakashi continued, "On a mission you may be forced to make such a choice. It's up to the squad as a whole to either never let such an occasion happen or decide what to do in such a situation. You _must_ learn to work cohesively." He walked over to a big slab of marble that came up to his waist. "Look at the marker," he said, "Look at all the names engraved in stone. Heroes of our village. True Shinobi."

"I just made up my mind!" shouted Naruto, loudmouthed as always, "I want my name to go on that list!"

"Ahem!" Kakashi coughed, "But these aren't just any heroes listed here…"

"What kind? Come on! Tell me!" said Naruto.

Kakashi turned around slowly, but was stopped before he could start.

"Naruto," said a voice, "This is memorial. These noble Shinobi died in the line of duty. Someone very close to me and Kakashi alike are listed here. Aspire to be one if you wish, but you must go outside the line of duty. Far outside."

Adam dropped from a tree, and walked over to stand next to Kakashi. He opened his left hand in front of him, and then brought a kunai up from his left hand and stabbed it into his left palm, drawing gasps from the others.

"Life of us mortals, change to become something of beauty. Change from something that others spill, to one that others cherish," he whispered, with all other eyes on his palm.

Slowly, the blood began to change. Its shape changed from a puddle in Adam's hand and began to solidify into a sphere. When it stopped glowing, everyone else gasped again, for where a puddle of blood had been just before, a shining, blood-red ruby sat there, rolling gently in his hand. He placed it on the ground in front of the grave, where it sat as if held in place.

"I'm giving you all one more chance!" said Kakashi suddenly, "One last chance to get the bells. Sasuke, Sakura and Adam can all have their lunches, but none for Naruto."

"Why not?" whined Naruto.

"You brought it upon yourself when you tried to sneak the lunches. If any of you feed him, you immediately fail the test. _My word is law!_"

With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

A little while later, Adam and the others were eating their lunch, Naruto trying desperately to act like it didn't bother him. Adam watched him for a couple of seconds, then sighed slightly. He walked over to him and sat down knelt next to him. He drew his kunai and slashed Naruto free.

"Adam!" exclaimed Sakura, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm freeing Naruto," he answered simply, giving his lunch to Naruto.

"Kakashi said not to give him any food!" protested Sakura, "Anyway, don't you need it?"

"Kakashi," said Adam, "failed to take in my Psyker digestive system. I can go for months on end without food, if needed."

"Ok…" said Sasuke uncertainly, "But he still told us not to give Naruto food."

"The way I see it," Adam said, sitting down again, watching Naruto stuff his face, oblivious to everyone and everything else, "Is that either we left Naruto tied up and weakened. Or we help him, no matter what Kakashi said. I'll wager that Kakashi would have done the same if his teammate was tied up."

There was a bang and a puff of smoke. "YOU…" Kakashi began, furious.

"NOW!!" yelled Adam, leaping forward.

Adam and Sasuke acted instantly, almost as if linked by minds. As they ran forward Sasuke leapt off Adam's shoulders, aiming for Kakashi's head, and as soon as Sasuke had left his shoulders, Adam slid into a dive, going for Kakashi's knees. Kakashi, unprepared, stumbled back, and inadvertently activated a trip-line trap. Kunai flew out from the trees on either side. Kakashi flipped backwards, dodging the kunai…

…right into Adam, who had ran behind and curled into a ball. Sasuke then darted forward and grabbed all three bells off Kakashi's belt. He then threw one to Adam and one to Sakura. Adam then tossed his bell to Naruto, who caught it.

"…pass," said Kakashi, confused.

"Teamwork, sensei," said Adam, "Isn't that what you said?"

"It was," said Kakashi, "But I also said don't feed Naruto."

"You would have done the same for your teammates if they needed you," said Adam simply.

"I suppose you're right," said Kakashi, "So, as I said, you all pass, because, so far, you had all been listening to me and following my orders like drones. People who do not live by the Shinobi laws are rubbish. People who do not look after their comrades, however, are even worse than that."

"All right!" yelled Naruto from behind them, "So I'm gonna become a Shinobi?"

"Yes, Naruto," said Kakashi with a sigh, "You are. You are dismissed. Meet with me tomorrow at Southsway Bridge."


	3. With Hinata

After squad 7 parted ways, Adam bounded through the village, back up to the house where he first met Hinata. As he suspected, she was already there waiting for him.

"Well?" she asked when he arrived, a smile on her face, but still in that soft, quiet voice.

"Well what? Well did we pass, or well did Naruto want to go out with you?" Adam asked in return, a smile to match Hinata's growing on his face.

"Both," she said brightly.

"The answers, not to bandy about words, were _yes_ and _no_," Adam answered.

"Oh," she said, her smile dropping.

"Also, when I left yesterday, I encountered your brother, and he told me not to talk to you again," said Adam.

"And yet you still decided to see me again? You're quite brave. Not many people would dare face Neji's wrath," she said, sadness beginning to mix with wonder.

"Not really," Adam laughed, "I told him there was nothing he could do to stop me, and if he tried, I'd throw him off a roof. He won't be giving me much trouble I think."

"He might give _me_ trouble though," said Hinata, fear beginning to spread over her features.

"Hinata, I, as a friend of Naruto's, and, if you don't mind me saying, you, will never let that happen. If he threatens you, you come to me and I'll sort it out," said Adam.

"Ok," said Hinata, "thankyou."

"Don't worry about it. Now, next question, how long are you going to continue chasing after Naruto?" Adam asked

"I do not _chase_ after him," said Hinata, blushing a little.

"You're right. You send_ me_ to do the chasing," said Adam, "but the question still stands; how long?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask?" said Hinata.

"Because," said Adam, "if it's not too much trouble, I would like to ask you if you would go out with me?"

Hinata started blushing into overdrive, "Oh--, I don't know. I don't know if I've forgiven you over the mind-entering incident when we first met," she said.

"So it's a yes?" asked Adam.

"I said I don't know!" Hinata protested.

"Perhaps, but when a girl says that, plus when she's blushing like the sun, that's a fair indication for _yes_," Adam said, breaking out in a huge grin, "so, want to celebrate tonight by going out for dinner?"

"Oh...yes please!" answered Hinata, finally giving in, partly because she thought she liked this boy, partly because she desperately wanted someone to love, someone who cared about her.

That night, Adam and Hinata went to one of the biggest and most celebrated restaurants in the Village. All the while they talked, about Hinata and her family, about the village in general (Hinata did most of this, since she had been here since she was born.) but, eventually, and Adam thought inevitably, they came around to him, and where he came from. So Adam started telling her.

"I come from overseas, as you heard, from a place called Australia. When I lived there, from when I was born to when I was about 6 was fine, but when I hit 6, people I didn't know turned up on our door and said that I had to come with them for a training program. Mum didn't want me to go, but they took me anyway. You might have guessed that where I went, they turned me into a Psyker, or someone with enhanced mental abilities. I went through terrible tests, with at least 50 other kids my age trying out as well. One of the other children and I were the only ones that survived the process, and I was the stronger of the two.

"I was supposedly going to be used for government needs, taking out extremely hostile targets and the like. At 15 years old, I didn't like the sound of that, so after a while I stowed away on a ship that I heard was going to pass near here. As we were going by, I…persuaded…the captain to tell me more about this place. He told me all I needed to know, so I brought the ship onto ground on the east side of this country, and from there, ran all the way here."

"Ran?" asked Hinata, disbelief on her face, "it must be 100 kilometres from here to the east coast, at least."

"Ah, but me running, with psychically enhanced speed, took me only a day and a half to reach here. Psychic powers have a lot more practical uses than you think."

"But why didn't you stay in Australia?" asked Hinata.

"As I said, I didn't like the idea of killing people I didn't know for no reason at the age of 15. But now I am glad I decided to come here," answered Adam, putting his hand over Hinata's, making her blush again. "You don't have much self-confidence do you?" he said.

She shook her head slightly, averting his gaze. "That's something you have in stark contrast to Neji," he continued.

"How did you survive the tests where others didn't?" Hinata asked softly, trying to get off the subject of her brother.

"I don't know. I think it's just that I refused to give up and die. Something I have in common with Naruto. You know he has been blind to you for ages, don't you?"

"W-what do you mean, blind?" she asked

"Even though you gave him you affections, he never noticed, he thought you were weird because you blushed around him. Even though he refused to give up, he never had any parents, so they were never able to teach him to grow up. I've noticed that most people reach for things they can't get."

"What do you mean by that?" Hinata asked

"Well, you tried for Naruto, even though, in your heart, you knew you were never going to get him. He tries for Sakura for the same reason. Although I have been wondering to myself if you were more confident and told him earlier on, before he had a chance to start liking Sakura, you might have just got him."

"Hmm," said Hinata to herself, thinking.

"So, have you had enough?" asked Adam, shaking her from her reverie.

"What? Oh, yes, thankyou," answered Hinata, shaking her head slightly to throw off the last of her thoughts.

As if he was waiting to hear these magic words, a waiter just appeared next to Adam, saying, "Are you done for the night sir?"

"Yes, thank you. How much?"

As the waiter was telling him the price, Hinata got her purse out and opened it.

"Uh-uh, no way. Not on the first date. On the first, the guy pays for the girl's meal. Trust me,"

"Oh, um, ok then," said Hinata, putting her purse away.

"The price of the meal is ¥3'000 (3'000 Yen)," said the waiter.

"Ok…here," said Adam.

"Thankyou, sir," said the waiter, beginning to turn away.

"Wait. Here's a little extra for your help," said Adam, putting another ¥2'000 onto the platter.

"Wow," said Hinata, "where did you get your money from?"

"When I was taken to be trained as a Psyker, the government paid my family about 5 billion dollars compensation. In case I should die. 2 of which were mine. 2 billion Australian dollars equals about ¥25 billion," answered Adam, standing up and offering his hand to Hinata.

As she took his hand she said, "That's quite a bit of money. But was it worth the pain?"

"The pain? No. The effects of being a Psyker? Yes," answered Adam.

As they left the restaurant, Hinata asked, resting her head on his shoulder, "What happened to the other child that survived the…_Psyker_ experiment?"

"I don't know," answered Adam, "I did not search for him when I left for this land. I assume that he is still working for the government as an assassin."

"How old are you?" Hinata asked, as they turned off down a street, unconsciously going back behind the house where they first met.

"Me? I lost count, but how old do _you_ think I am?" answered Adam with a small smile

"I think you must be somewhere near 15," answered Hinata.

"I am, I think, somewhere near the 150 mark," said Adam, his smile getting bigger.

"Really, how old are you?" answered Hinata, a small smile growing on her face

"No, Hinata, I'm serious. I am somewhere near one hundred and fifty years old. I lost count because one of the things the scientists did near the end of my…_treatment_…was make me immune to the visual and physical effects of ageing. My body is as sharp as it was when I was 14, but the knowledge I have gained over the past 136 years still sticks with me."

Hinata's eyes wide, she asked, "But you said you didn't like the thought of killing at 12, or 14 or whenever it was!"

"You're right, I didn't. And they knew that, so they gave me some time to get accustomed with my newfound powers. I officially started working for the government at age 23. I took my first life at 2 months after my 23rd birthday," said Adam, a melancholy look in his eye. "I kept working for them until I was, by my reckoning, about 120. I tried to tell them that I didn't want to kill anymore, but they didn't let me quit. They instead tried to lock me up, to keep me from turning against them. They placed special equipment in and around the doors and walls to cancel out my psychic powers."

"How did you escape, then?" asked Hinata, finally reaching the house at the top of the hill.

"One day, the guard got careless and opened the latch to send my food in bigger than he was meant to. I sent my psychic powers out through the gap and blew the door inwards. It missed me and I was able to control my power again. From there it was easy to escape."

They both stood silently in front of the house, each absorbed in their own thoughts, looking over the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Adam holding onto Hinata around the waist, her head resting against his shoulder, watching the pinpricks of light from the candles, and, every now and then, a small shadow as the sentries made their rounds.

Suddenly a voice behind them said, "I thought I told you to keep your hands off her!"

Hinata looked around with a gasp, but Adam kept looking out over the town.

"What is it?" asked Neji, "are you too scared to face me?"

"No," answered Adam, "I just don't believe you are worth turning my head to talk to."

"Why you little…Hinata, come here," said Neji, reaching his hand towards her. She shrank back toward Adam, grasping his arm tightly.

"Adam, what are we going to do?" she asked fearfully.

"I gave you my word I would protect you. I intend to keep it. But from what I can tell, he has not come to fight, rather to either talk or take you from me. The former I will consider, the latter I will not," answered Adam, "now, Neji, what do you want here? Why have you interrupted our celebrations?"

"You tell me, you're the psychic," answered Neji with a sneer.

"You, along with your sister, have the genetic ability called the Byakugan; this closes the owners mind to me, so I can't read their minds," Adam said, "although, before you get any ideas, my other psychic powers and reflexes are just as sharp as they were 136 years ago. I ask you once more, leave this place and leave us alone."

"I doubt very much you are 150 years old. I also won't leave you alone until you stop harassing my sister," said Neji his hand dropping almost casually to the kunai satchel on his belt.

"Two things, Neji. One, I am not _harassing_ your sister. Is she not allowed to have a social life? And two, if you decide to fling that kunai, you will not see another sunrise. Unless your sister can persuade me not to kill you,"

"I can see behind your eyes, another little skill me and Hinata share, and I can see you don't have the eyes of a killer."

He started easing the kunai out.

"That is because I had not killed anyone when I was 14. By now I have lost count of how many I have slain. Before you throw the kunai, ask yourself, would you like Hinata to go through life knowing that her brothers own stupidity and foolhardiness brought you to your demise? Hinata," he said, turning to her, "if he listens to you, tell him to stop. For his own good. Please."

"Oh, um…I don't know…"

"Hinata, after 136 years of bloodshed, death and pain, I do not want to needlessly inflict more. In the heat of battle it is understandable. If someone kills someone dear to you, it is understandable. Killing in cold blood is not. Please Hinata, make him listen."

"Um…ok, I'll try," Hinata said, turning to face her brother, "Neji, please, it wasn't Adam's fault. He asked me out and I accepted, when I could have just as easily said no. Please Neji, leave us in peace. If you had a girlfriend, you would not want Adam jumping around, demanding to take your hands off her. Leave. Please."

Neji's sneer turned into a scowl, "I am only leaving because Hinata asked me to. When next we meet alone, Adam, we fight. To the death, or until you agree to stop seeing my sister."

"Neji, I think you need to know, even though you have the Byakugan, with a little work, I can circumvent it, which is what I did to Hinata when I first met her," said Adam, turning to face Hinata and mouthing the word 'sorry'. "Actually, I've been working on it for the last 5 minutes, and although you're stronger than Hinata, my mind is stronger than yours. I've just about…there. I now have access to your mind, and there is nothing you can do about it. I can tell when you are going to attack, when you are angry, anything. What is of more importance to you, however, is a small skill I managed to invent by myself, similar to _Genjutsu_, the illusion art. I can implant false feelings and memories into your head, but instead of wearing off after fifteen minutes or so, my version of Genjutsu stays with you for life, until either you find another Psyker to fix it, good luck with that, considering I'm the only one left by the way, or until I see fit to release you from it."

"And why should I be worried about that?" asked Neji, although a worm of fear was creeping into his gut.

"Because I could make you think that you had consented to our relationship, or, in an extreme case, wipe all memories of your sister from your mind. How would you feel, knowing deep down that you had a sister, she was dating someone you didn't know, and had, in your eyes, betrayed you, but on the surface, you would remember nothing, knowing that when you would talk with Hinata, you would speak as a friend, not a sibling, because to you, you never had one? I beg of you, leave us and never again bother us. If you learn to accept that you cannot control your sisters life forever, I would be glad to befriend you, but for now, when I look into your mind, I cannot see this happening, and over 150 years, my hunches have grown uncannily accurate, and one of my hunches is that you won't change your stance until one of us is dead."

"You are correct, Adam, I will not. Now I will leave. Hinata, when you are ready, come home."

"Goodbye Neji," Hinata said, tears in the corners of her eyes.

As Neji leaped over their heads, down towards the village, Adam drew Hinata close to him, stroking her hair and whispering softly to her, telling her to stop her tears. As her silent sobs ceased, he turned her head so she faced him.

"Now," he said, "do you wish to stay the night at my house, so you do not wish to see Neji so soon?"

"I would, but I don't know where you live," she answered softly.

"You want to know? Look behind you," Adam said, that small smile returning on his face.

Hinata turned, saying, "_This_ is where you live? By yourself?"

"I know it's not a great palace, but it has sufficed for the past 10 years."

"10 years? But you only joined the ninja yesterday," she said, puzzled.

"Indeed I did," said Adam, "but that was because the urge to become a ninja just took me a few days ago. Before then, I was content to sit here, overlooking the village, watching the comings and goings. I saw you a few times. Usually around Naruto, though you never told him. Am I right?"

"Yes, you are," said Hinata, "but it must have gotten boring up here by yourself."

"Not at all. Up here, in the quiet of the mountains, it's one of the best places I could think of to practise my Psyk, the name of my psychic powers," said Adam, turning to go inside, "so you coming inside or what?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Hinata answered, though she still hesitated.

"Look," said Adam, "there's nothing to be worried about. Do you trust me?"

"Um, well…yes," answered Hinata, looking away.

"Hinata, look into my eyes and tell me you trust me."

"I…I trust you, Adam," she said, turning to look him in the eye.

"Good, now follow me."

They turned and walked into the small house. Inside, it was bigger than it looked, made of wood, and had an inherently cosy feel about it.

"Your room is the one on the right," said Adam, indicating the room.

"Ok, thankyou," said Hinata, walking off to the room.

Just before Adam went to bed, he went and made himself a cup of coffee, then went outside to look over the village again. _Ïvorien, my former companion,_ he thought,_ what have you done with yourself now? What have you done with your life in the last ten years? Hell, are you still even alive?_ He watched the sun begin to rise over the eastern horizon. He was tired. Not just in the sense of needing sleep. He was tired of life, and, perhaps for the thousandth time, cursed the scientist who did this to him. After another half an hour he went inside to sleep.


	4. Trust Issues

In the morning, Adam woke up first and, careful not to wake Hinata, put on a dressing gown, and went out to make himself a cup of coffee. He heard Hinata wake up, and as he turned to look at her, she was already dressed in her traditional ninja garb.

"How are you this morning, Adam?" she asked, smiling brightly at him.

"I'm slightly tired, but good all the same, thank you. How did you sleep?" he answered

"Very good, thank you. But where were you? I didn't hear you come to bed for, it must have been an hour," she said, going back into the room to get her headband with the Hidden Leaf Village mark on it.

"I was thinking," said Adam, "about what has happened, and what might be. We're very strange that way, we Psykers."

"So I see," said Hinata, looking for a comb somewhere around the house.

"D'you want a cup of coffee?" called Adam through the door.

"Yes please," said a voice behind him.

"Neji," answered Adam, "how long have you been standing there. Obviously not too long or Hinata would have said something."

"That's IT!" he yelled, drawing a kunai and pointing it at Adam's throat. Hinata came out from the room, pulling a comb, made of wood, through her hair.

"Hey, what's going…oh," she said, drawing back towards the door, a frightened look in her eye.

"YOU! You come with me!" he yelled at her, "Father wants to speak with you."

"Now that's no way to talk to a lady, let alone your sister," said Adam, rising out of his chair.

"You shut up!" said Neji, "in fact, I've had enough of you. You're going down!"

As he said this, Neji plunged the kunai towards Adam's neck, and Adam made no move to dodge or defend himself. He just let the kunai stab into his neck and he sunk towards the ground.

"ADAM!! NO!!" cried Hinata, tears springing to her eyes.

"Now you're coming with me," Neji said, stepping over Adam's body. He went to grab Hinata's hand but Hinata ran back into the room, closing the door.

Neji laughed, "Do you really think that's going to stop me?" asked Neji.

"No," said a voice behind him, "but I will."

Before Neji could turn around, the whole house was blown apart, the roof being thrown to one side, all the walls being flung outwards. Hinata looked up.

"A-Adam?" she asked, seeing, but not comprehending.

"N-no, t-this cannot be!" said Neji, shaking his head and taking a step backwards.

For there, standing in front of Hinata, with his arms flung out to his sides, protecting her, with a kunai in his neck, stood Adam.

"I guess I forgot to tell you," said Adam, walking slowly towards Neji, a strange gurgling sound coming out of his throat, "I…am…IMMORTAL!!!"

He threw himself at Neji, knocking him onto his back, Adam landing on top of him. "I guess the scientist did a pretty good job didn't they," continued Adam, a sick smile on his face, as if relishing in Neji's fear, "making me immune to Death's cold embrace. Let's see if you fare any better."

"Adam, NO!" screamed Hinata from behind him, "don't sink down to his level, don't kill…"

"_Don't sink down to his level?_ _HINATA, I'M PAST HIS LEVEL. HOW MANY MEN HAS HE KILLED WITH HIS BARE HANDS?! HOW MANY MEN HAS HE TORN ASUNDER, RIPPING THEM LIMB FROM LIMB?! BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING I FORGOT TO TELL YOU, HINATA. THE ONLY REASON I'M THE LAST PSYKER LEFT IS BECAUSE, TO SURVIVE, WE HAD TO KILL EACH OTHER!!"_ Adam yelled at her. Then, in a slightly softer tone, said, "How many loved ones has he seen die, torn from him by an uncaring world who cares more about money than lives?"

Hinata was crying now, "Adam, please, I beg of you; don't kill him. He's my only family; I can't bear to see him die."

Adam seemed to be struggling with something in his mind. Then he turned to Neji, "I've spared you once, for it was our first encounter. I spared you twice because you left, and I believed you weren't going to bother us again. I spare you a third time, BECAUSE YOUR SISTER IS CRYING ON THE FLOOR, BEGGING ME NOT TO END YOUR SORRY LIFE!! You cross me one more time, and if you don't have some sort of apology or message of peace, no amount of begging from Hinata will save you. I swear, even if she's watching or standing in front of you, shielding you, I will kill you. And not in a nice way either. Not to give too much away, have you ever seen your own heart? Leave. Now. This is not a request. It is an order."

Adam stood up off a shaking and pale Neji. As soon as he was off, Neji was on his feet and running for his life, away from this immortal madman. As soon as he was out of sight, Adam stood in what used to be the middle of the kitchen, and brought his hands together, as if praying. Little by little, the house came back together, until the roof came back on with a smash. Then, he reached up and pulled the kunai out of his neck, whereupon the skin instantly sealed over staunching the blood flow. He then discarded the kunai and went over to Hinata, trying to soothe her. As soon as he crouched next to her, she pushed him away, wanting to be by herself, with her own feelings.

_You know, it's impossible to hide from me._

"AH!" she yelled, looking at Adam, who was making breakfast for himself, content that Hinata was not injured by Neji or the house. As soon as he heard her scream, he looked over.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"D-DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME! I KNOW YOU WERE JUST INSIDE MY HEAD! GET OUT!!" Hinata yelled.

Instantly, Adam was alert, kneeling next to Hinata saying, "Hinata, you must listen to me! The voice, it wasn't mine. It must be the second last Psyker, Ïvorien. He must have tracked me here. I need to get inside your head to fortify your mental defences so he can't learn anything."

"NO!" she yelled, "I'm not letting you inside my head again!"

"Hinata, remember last night? You said you trusted me. You looked me in the eye and said you trusted me. That trust must still hold if you are to survive."

"No," she said, "you're not getting in. I don't believe you."

"Hinata, please," said Adam with a different tone of voice now. Hinata looked at him in surprise. "I don't want to lose another loved one to _him_." There were tears in his eyes.

_Ah, how cute. Two little lovebirds. I think it's time I broke this relationship._

"Ok, Adam," said Hinata, getting scared now, "Do whatever you have to do. Do it now!"

"I can't," said Adam, "we've left it too late. He's inside your mind. Now it's up to you. You must repulse him. Focus on one thing and one thing only. It can be anything; just don't think of anything else."

"O-ok," said Hinata, scared just as she was the first time Adam found her.

"I shall meld my strength with yours," said Adam, "then we must get him out."

So he put his hand on Hinata's shoulder, looked deep into her eyes, and let his consciousness flow from him to her. With it came immeasurable power. Now he looked at the world through Hinata's eyes, seeing the world how she saw it. He felt the foreign pressure on her mind, and said, with his mind, _There's no doubt about it, this is Ïvorien, the last Psyker, apart from me._

_How do we defeat him?_ asked Hinata.

_We must push him out through with our minds,_ said Adam; _Ïvorien knows that he's not as strong as me, so we must catch him by surprise._

_But how?_ asked Hinata, _what must we do?_

_Wait!_ thought Adam, _that's it! Hinata, activate your Byakugan. That should keep him out while I gather my strength._

_Ok! _said Hinata.

As she activated her _Kekkei-Genkai_, or Genetic Ability, Adam drew upon all possible energy sources. The wood that made up his house started turning grey with age as the energy was leeched out of it. All life in a ten meter radius of the house just…_died_.

_W-what are you doing?! How is your mind closed?! Adam, I swear, if you keep protecting her I shall kill all you hold dear._

_Ah, Ïvorien, my friend. I am not doing this. It seems Hinata is doing it by herself._

_You lie! This cannot be! You are the only other person who can keep me out!_

_Lie? You think that after 144 years of knowing each other I would _lie_ to you? Despicable as you are, I do not lie. E'o etheka mi Psyker._ said Adam. Upon my word as a Psyker.

_Psylan? You really are full of surprises Adam. Then hear this. E'o etheka mi Psyker, e weül ethok seesa üoo hould sernea. That is no minor threat. It was said in Psylan. I cannot go back now. Goodbye Adam, and may our paths never cross. _said Ïvorien,_ A Psyker eth neät tu kêp thei peaice._ He added in a mocking tone. A Psyker shall keep the peace.

He withdrew his presence from Hinata's mind.

"Adam, what were you saying? I couldn't understand you," she asked

"Hinata, if you trust me, you do not want to know," answered Adam, "now we better get going to our Jonin. They don't put up with being late. Unless it's Kakashi, in which case he's always late."

"O-ok," said Hinata, "will I see you later on tonight?"

"Hinata, it makes me feel like killing myself, but I have to say we have to stop seeing each other."

"W-what? Why?" she asked.

"You remember the words, E'o etheka mi Psyker, e weül ethok seesa üoo hould sernea?" he asked.

"Yes. It was said by that other Psyker, Ïvorien, or whatever."

"In Psylan, the language where no lies can be told, and whatever you say must be upheld, means 'Upon my word as a Psyker, I shall kill all you hold dear.' Unfortunately, you fall into that category," he said.

"But I have the Byakugan," she said, "isn't that meant to make me safe?"

"It will, for a time. Eventually he will find a way around it. Then, I'm afraid, you will be finished. If I'm not around next time…" he shuddered, then asked, "Hinata, what does it take to kill someone? A lost limb? A broken neck? You sever one blood vessel in the brain and your opponent will go down in a matter of seconds. Now imagine someone with that knowledge who can sever that vessel from half the world away. That is why I'm worried. I don't want you caught up in things bigger than you can understand."

"Are you saying I can't handle whatever you're trying to say?" asked Hinata in a hurt voice.

"Well, yes and no. I'm sure you can understand it, but you can't handle it. You are in more danger than you can comprehend. You could be sleeping, and you would feel, maybe quarter of a second of pain, then you would be bleeding out your ears all over the pillows. I don't want that to happen. I must leave. I must not be in contact with you anymore, save for that of a fellow ninja. I am sorry."

"B-but, couldn't you teach me how to defend myself?" Hinata asked.

"Against any other Psyker I would agree. However, against Ïvorien, no defence can stand for long. Save for mine…wait, that's it!" he said.

"What's it?" asked Hinata, hope reappearing in her eyes.

"Wait a sec," said Adam, going to get something from his room. When he returned, he carried two small rings, a diamond one and a ruby one. Not a gold ring with a diamond or ruby set in it. Rings made wholly out of diamond or ruby. They would have been worth millions, since both gems were of the highest quality. He went over to Hinata, saying, "I will implant some of my energy into both of these rings, then, as long as you wear the diamond one, coupled with your Byakugan should be able to keep him out until I get close enough to help you. The good thing is I'll always be close enough to help you. You could be standing here, getting attacked by Ïvorien and I'd be able to help you, even if I was on the east coast, fighting ten other ninja. If, however, I am incapacitated for any reason, put on this ruby ring and your Byakugan's power will increase a hundredfold, more than enough to hold off me and Ïvorien together. Beware though, do not keep the ruby ring on, for since it powers up your Byakugan a hundredfold, it also uses up chakra a hundredfold. I hope this has given _you_ hope."

"It has," said Hinata, kissing him softly, taking the two rings, "thankyou."

"I also put a strong _Psyjutsu_ on it, so that if, at any time, you try to sell them, for reasons unknown, the person in question will tell you it's worthless and refuse to buy it. If you need money, you contact me, and I can provide it for you. You must _never_, under any circumstances, take these off until I can confirm that Ïvorien has forgotten about you, which may be in one year or ten."

"I won't take them off," promised Hinata, slipping the diamond ring on her right ring finger, while putting the ruby in her jacket pocket.

"Oh, and one more thing I did is, to anyone else, while you're wearing the rings, nobody else can see them unless you show the rings to them on purpose. That was to stop people trying to steal them."

"Thank you Adam," said Hinata, kissing him again, "you do too much for me."

"Do I? I suppose I do. Now we better get going. Grab my hand and I'll teleport us to your sensei first, then I get to mine."

"Ok, she said, grasping his hand.

Unlike using a Teleportation Jutsu, with the bang and puff of smoke, Adam used his, what he called, _Psyjutsu_, and, instead of the bang and smoke, a purple circle appeared at the top of their heads and the soles of their feet. Then the circles moved together, leaving behind a purple wall, like a cylinder, to meet at the middle. As soon as the circles touched, purple light filled the room, and they were gone.

They appeared to startled cries, and, when the purple bands dissipated, Hinata's team and sensei.

"Who are you?" asked Hinata's sensei, Kurenai, "Where have you been with Hinata? What have you been doing?"

"One question at a time, sensei," said Adam, "Who am I? I am Adam, the…boy…that joined squad seven, instructed by sensei Kakashi Hatake. Where have we been? We have been at my house, up on that hill over there, where she decided to stay the night after being threatened by her brother, Neji Hyuga. What have we been doing? I have just saved her life twice during the past night and this morning."

"You expect me to believe that?" asked her sensei.

"It matters not to me whether you do or not. If you do not, however, then you disbelieve the truth," answered Adam.

"You speak as one who is older than you look. How old are you, Adam?"

"I? If I told you, you would not believe me. You would label me a liar, then the Hokage would want me to explain myself, and I have no wish to do that, especially since many ninja would die trying to stop me escaping, in which they would fail, and I gave up the art of bloodshed long ago."

"Try me," said Kurenai.

"To this day, I am one hundred and fifty years, seven months and twenty-three days old," said Adam.

"I don't believe…" started Kurenai.

"Ah, now that is why I did not want to tell you to begin with. However, if you so wish, I could enter your mind, send my memories to you and force you to believe me, although you may not survive the experience, and if you did, there would be a ninety-nine percent chance that you would go insane from the sight. Do you wish me to show you? If so, be forewarned, for I do not lie when talking about my powers, for I do not reveal their secrets lightly."

Kurenai was taken aback. Who was this insolent child to talk to her like this? She thought she might teach him a lesson in humiliation and respect. As she reached for him, however, he said, "I do not suggest you continue with this. If you do, I will assume you mean me harm. I will then have to take appropriate counter-measures." She was undeterred, however, thinking that this small child could not do much to one such as her. As she touched him, his right hand leapt across his body with blinding speed. Even before his right hand and fully grasped her arm, his left arm came up underneath and broke her elbow, though not hard enough for it to pierce the skin. As Kurenai recoiled in shock and pain, and took a couple of steps forward and swung his right arm forward, catching her on the neck with the crook of his elbow, getting her with what is called the 'coat-hanger'. As she was falling back, her arm in pain, and now struggling to breathe, he quickly spun around behind her and smashed a knee into her back, sending her into the sky. As soon as she left the ground, Adam's eyes were tracking her, gauging speed and distance. When she was about ten meters into the air, Adam moved with such speed an afterimage was left where he was. He suddenly appeared on top of the sensei, slamming an elbow into her stomach, driving whatever breath she had regained out again, making her cough blood, and sending her rocketing back towards the ground again. Just as she was about to hit the ground, a boy called Shino, a boy in Hinata's squad, ran forward and caught her before she was able to smash into the ground. Even though he caught her, the force of the blow Adam hit her with was enough to drive him to his knees. As he landed, knees bent to cushion the impact, he created a small crater in a five-meter diameter. Then he started walking over to her, when Hinata and her other teammate, Kiba, cut him off saying, "Can't you see?! She's beaten! Leave her alone and go away!"

Acting as if he had not heard, he kept walking towards Kurenai, and, when Hinata and the other boy ran towards him, sent out a blast of Psy energy that blew them both back at least five meters, without even lifting a finger or paying any attention to them. As he got closer, Shino stood up, putting up his hands in front of him, as if about to fight him. Adam almost laughed. He kept walking, and just put his hand out in front of him, and using his Psyjutsu, picked him up and flung him ten meters away into a tree with enough force to shake the tree. A sickening _crack_ came from Shino's back when he impacted. When he was standing next to the sensei, he knelt down next to her and rolled her over so she was on her back.

"Wait!" yelled Hinata, "what are you doing?"

"You think at the place where I was Psy trained they were only interested in us _taking_ lives? No, we also learnt how to restore it, in case we ever hand to bring someone in for questioning."

"But I…" Hinata started.

"ENOUGH! I need full concentration if I am to heal her," said Adam, putting his hands on her broken arm.

He began muttering in Psylan, too fast and too low for anybody else to hear, and, as the others watched, the broken bone snapped back into place. Then he moved to her stomach, where he healed the contusion he had made with his elbow. Last, he moved to her throat where he healed the ruptured Jugular vein and airways. Then his muttering slowed and then stopped. Suddenly, he pulled out a kunai and cut his hand, dripping his blood over her lips, clenching and unclenching his fist rapidly to stop it healing. As soon as he had wet her lips, he let his palm heal, and then he went to Shino, healing the bruise on his head, then the slightly more serious broken back he had sustained from smashing into the tree. He then dripped his blood over Shino's lips, just like he did with the sensei. Then he moved back to the sensei and sat cross-legged in front of her, looking straight ahead. As Hinata nervously approached him, he said "I'm sorry I had to do that, but I hate non-believers. They think just because it doesn't happen here, it doesn't happen anywhere else, that everywhere else is hunky-dory, just like here. You guys really don't know how lucky you are here, cut off from the outside world. To you, this might seem like a hellhole, but to me, this seems like Eden. Your sensei should be coming around soon."

"Umm, Adam?" asked Hinata cautiously, and when he nodded slightly, said, "Why did you drip blood on their lips?"

"My blood, although I should say our blood since you know about Ïvorien, has spectacular healing properties; it can bring people one inch from death back to full health in a matter of minutes. It is composed of micro-organisms, so it is impossible to be allergic to it, and furthermore, it works on everyone. If I had a needle it would have been faster, since I could've put it directly into the bloodstream, but I had to make do with what I have. Look, here she comes now."

"Ugh…what happened?" asked Kurenai groggily.

"I killed you, then I resurrected you," said Adam emotionlessly.

"YOU! Why did you do that!?" she yelled at him.

"I needed you to believe me. Also, I warned you twice about approaching me, yet continued, believing you knew better. You now have my blood in your veins. It's a great honour," said Adam with a slight smile.

"I-I what?! How dare you!" she said, drawing back her hand, as if to slap him.

Instantly he was behind her, grabbing her wrist in an iron-hard grip, holding another kunai in his hand, pointing at the base of her skull, saying,

"Two things, sensei. One, if I hadn't, you would be lying on the ground, dying of lack of oxygen, a ruptured Jugular vein and stomach, which would be leaking blood into the rest of your body. Two, since you now have my blood, only a few drops, mind you; you now have enhanced healing abilities. For example…"

He took the kunai and slashed her across the palm of her hand before she could react. As she brought her hand down hunching over it, she watched as it almost instantly sealed over with a slight red line of scar tissue.

"Of course, it won't work on big things like broken bones and huge cuts, but for small things, like kunai gashes and scrapes, it should do. Shino also has it, since I had to heal him of a broken back, and I needed to speed his recovery."

"J-just what_ are_ you?" asked the sensei fearfully.

Adam grinned at her as he took the kunai he had used on her, cleaned the blade, and impaled it up through his chin into the roof of his mouth.

"Immortal," he said to her, spitting out blood.

Almost as soon as he finished, he summoned his Psyjutsu and activated the teleport. From there, he went straight to Kakashi.

_I think I played that about right._ He thought happily.

"Just where have you been?!" yelled Sakura as Adam materialized in front of them.

"Is Kakashi here yet?" he asked

"No, but…"

"Then there should be no problem," said Adam, sitting down on the bench with a sigh, closing his eyes and crossing his hands with his ring and pinkie finger crossed, and his index and middle finger pointing into the sky, forming the 'Tiger' hand sign.

"What are you doing?" asked Naruto.

"Gathering Psygen, the source of my power. Sort of like your chakra," answered Adam.

"What have you been doing that took up that much…Psygen?" asked Sasuke.

"If you _must_ know," said Adam in an exasperated voice, "I just killed two people, then, feeling bad about their deaths, brought them back."

"Back? Back from where?" asked Naruto, not seeming to care that his teammate just killed two people.

"I don't know! What is it you people believe in? The afterlife? Heaven? Whatever, what matters it I killed two people then resurrected them. There, now you know."

After a moment's pause, Sakura said, "That is the most lame excuse I've ever heard. That's including Naruto's. You _killed_ two people? I highly doubt that you would have the stomach to kill someone."

"I am one hundred and fifty years old," said Adam in a monotone, "I have seen more death than you could possibly imagine."

"You? You're 150? Stop making stuff up," said Sasuke.

"So, Sakura, you think I don't have the heart to take a life, even though I have seen a five year old boy beg for mercy after I just killed his mother and father? After I have killed someone with my bare hands, ripping out their heart? _You have no idea what I've been through!_" yelled Adam, "But obviously you need proof. So here it is."

He quickly got up, spun behind Naruto, drew a kunai and held it up under Naruto's chin, his other hand snaking around to get his neck in a chokehold, though not hard enough to actually choke him. "You still think I don't have the heart? If I so wished, I could kill all of you without so much as lifting a finger."

"Just because you're pointing a kunai at his throat doesn't mean you will kill him…" Sasuke began, before Sakura yelled,

"SASUKE, SHUT UP! YOU ARE GOING TO GET NARUTO KILLED!!"

"Ah Sakura, your warning, or chastising as you might call it, came too late," said Adam, a sick smile on his features.

"W-what do you mean?" asked Sakura, although she thought she knew.

"Hey guys h…what's going on, Adam?!" said Kakashi's voice behind them.

Adam swung around, still smiling, "Ah, Kakashi, you're here. Good, now you can witness that, contrary to Sakura and Sasuke's thoughts, I do have the heart, and the drive, to kill. Like so."

As he said the last word, he rammed the kunai through Naruto's throat, so the tip of the kunai just showed on the other side. Then, still grinning, pulled the kunai out towards the others. He had just basically internally decapitated Naruto, leaving just enough skin to keep his head right.

As he twisted Naruto's head to the side, he released the kunai, letting him spin to the left, to land face down in front of Sakura.

"Do you think I've given you enough proof to change your mind?" asked Adam mildly.

"Oh, god. OH GOD! KAKASHI, HELP, DO SOMETHING!!" yelled Sakura.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Adam, still in that same mild tone.

As he started walking towards Naruto, Sasuke stepped in front of him. "I might not have been a great friend of Naruto's," he said in a strangled voice, "but what you did was WRONG!"

As he leapt towards Adam, Adam extended a hand and caught him in mid-air, saying "Sasuke, you know who…_what_…I am, so I suggest you just let me get to Naruto. If not, I will forcibly remove you." He waited a few moments, then, "I see you are not going to let me. Then I must do something. I am sorry."

He threw his hand to the left, simultaneously releasing it, so Sasuke flew far out into the river. As he started striding towards Naruto again, Kakashi stepped in front of him.

"Kakashi, get out of my way," said Adam, "for if you don't Naruto will die."

"Naruto is already dead, thanks to you. You are not getting any closer," said Kakashi.

"Hmph, so you say," said Adam with a slight smile, "good luck keeping me away."

He continued walking forward, so Kakashi jumped forward pulling back his arm to punch Adam. Adam kept walking, and as Kakashi's hand came close to his face, Adam still made no move to dodge the blow. Then to everyone's amazement except Adam's when Kakashi's hand went right through Adam's face. He looked around wildly, thinking that the 'Adam' he just punched was an illusion.

"You forget that I use Psyk, instead of chakra, that I use Psyjutsu instead of Ninjutsu. I am no clone. I made my density zero. If I wished I could sink into the ground," said Adam without looking over his shoulder. As he reached Naruto, he gently pushed Sakura of his body. He worked quickly knowing there wasn't much time. He pulled the kunai out, cleaned the blade and put it back in his satchel. Then he put his hands on Naruto's chin and throat, muttering low and fast in Psylan. As he was chanting, Kakashi came up behind him. As soon as Kakashi pulled his hand back to strike Adam, a barrier of energy flung him back ten meters. Through this, Adam kept muttering. As he finished, this time he did not cut his hand, nor drip blood on Naruto's lips, knowing that the healing powers of the nine-tailed fox would work just as good as two or three drops of Adam's blood. As Kakashi prepared to strike again, Naruto coughed, then sat up groggily, much the same way Hinata's sensei had. Kakashi rushed to Naruto's side, along with Sakura. Sasuke was still swimming back to Southsway Bridge so he did not know what was going on.

"Adam…how?" asked Kakashi, suspicion mixed with wonder in his eyes.

"How?" Adam laughed hollowly, "Because I am a Psyker."

He turned and started walking away, the purple circles of a Teleportation Psyjutsu appearing.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going?" yelled Kakashi.

"To see if the boy I killed earlier is all right," answered Adam, not looking back.

The purple circles enveloped him.


	5. Chapter 5

Fifteen minutes later, Adam was sitting in a tree, overseeing Shino's training, using a Chameleon Jutsu so as to remain hidden. Shino's healing rate had been increased far beyond Adam's expectations. He got slightly slashed by a kunai thrown by Hinata, when, almost instantaneously, it healed over. It seemed that no one had bothered to tell him about his new-found skill, and he hadn't seemed to have been wounded before, since he stared at his hand in shock. Adam decided to go over and reveal just what was going on with him. As he dropped from the tree, he released the flow of chakra (for although he was a Psyker, he still had access to normal ninja skills and powers). With cries of alarm, the boy, Shino, started running for his sensei, when, before he could blink, Adam was in front of him.

"I think it's time for you and me to have a little chat about your increased healing rate," said Adam, gripping Shino on the upper arm, starting a Teleportation Psyjutsu. Soon they were at Adam's house, sitting out the front, overlooking the village. "So," said Adam, "what do you know so far about your newly acquired…power?"

"Not much," admitted Shino, "that was the first time I got wounded since I was knocked unconscious."

"You weren't unconscious…" said Adam, looking at the spot where Kakashi and the others presumably still were, fussing over Naruto, "you were dead. I resurrected you."

"W-what? I don't believe you!" said Shino, standing up, "I'm going back to the others."

He disappeared into the smoke of a Teleportation Jutsu. When he arrived back at the woods where the others were, he asked Hinata, "Hinata, before, when I got these healing powers…was I dead?"

"Oh…Shino, you mustn't be angry with Adam. He just…went a little bit crazy…" Hinata started.

"Hinata, I'm not looking for an explanation or and excuse. I'm looking for an answer. Now. Was. I. Dead?"

"Umm, yes, Shino, you died of a broken back when you slammed into a tree."

"He also got a pretty bad bump on his head," said a voice, "I wouldn't be surprised, that, if you survived the broken back, you would have died of your brain bleeding into your skull."

They both spun around to see Adam leaning against a tree.

"YOU! You had no right to mess with my body!" yelled Shino, pointing at Adam.

"Stop pointing at me, boy," said Adam, his voice suddenly cold, "if I hadn't done what I did, you would be dead. I do not want a death of a 15 year old boy on my conscience. Although I suppose I did ki…that is not for now."

"Who are you calling _boy_? You can't be much older than me!"

"No, of course not. Silly of me for thinking that about one hundred and thirty-five years is a long time."

"You lie…" Shino began, when his sensei appeared behind him.

"That is one thing you do _not_ want to say to say to this…man," said Kurenai.

"You know me too well, sensei," said Adam with a small smile.

"Obviously," said Kurenai, "now what do you want here?"

"Me? Oh, I just wanted to see how he was coming along, because I didn't stick around to see if he came to. But he did."

"So now you will leave?" asked Kurenai hopefully.

"Yes, now I shall leave."

Once again, the tell-tale circles of the Teleportation Psyjutsu appeared.

A few seconds later, he appeared back on the bridge, with Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke all standing around Naruto's body. Adam walked up, clearly sensing something was wrong.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Wha…? Oh it's you. What happened is now Naruto is on the ground convulsing and we don't know what to do. Thanks," said Sasuke sarcastically.

"Hmm," said Adam, "I guess the nine-tailed fox isn't as great as everyone thinks. Looks like he to gets the honour of partaking of me. In fact, he might be the one I'm looking for…"

"W-what do you mean 'partake of me'?" asked Sakura.

"I mean, just like Hinata's sensei and teammate Shino, he gets to drink my blood."

"WHAT?!" yelled Kakashi, "I won't allow it. Adam, that is disgusting."

"Disgusting it may be, but necessary if you want him to survived," retorted Adam, drawing a kunai and slashing it across his palm. "You see," he continued, "when I was being changed, they scientist gave me great powers. Not just Psy powers, but other, more subtle ones. As such, I can run faster, jump higher and punch harder than any other human being. I have increased eyesight, so I can see in the dark, can see longer distances and can see in greater detail. I can open all eight chakra gates, although instead of chakra they feed me Psyk, on a mere whim; and furthermore, opening the eighth one does not kill me, merely leave me slightly out of breath when I close them. I am also immune to aging, thus although I have the mind, wisdom and insight surpassing that of all the Hokage combined, I retain the face and body of a fifteen-year-old. My blood has amazing healing powers, thus anyone that drinks it, or has it injected without it getting infected will have an amazing healing rate. The more blood they drink, the better it is, although they will never surpass me. Last, but sure as hell not least, I am immortal."

As he said this, Kakashi took a step back, saying, "You don't actually expect us to believe that, do you? No one is invincible!"

"The last person who said that was Hinata Hyuga's sensei. I killed her just to make a point. Then I resurrected her to show them that I was real. I also never said that I was invincible. I said I was immortal. There is a difference. Thus…"

He took the kunai he used to slice his palm, and aimed it straight at his own heart. He then smiled at the three of them, and plunged it back into his chest. As the three of them stared at him, unable to believe this madness, Adam stumbled back a few steps, and said in a wheezing voice, "See what I told you?"

"What's with your voice?" asked Sasuke.

"Huh? Oh I guess I just punctured a lung or something. Any second now, my voice should sound like I'm underwater as my lungs fill up with blood. Now, _if_ you'll excuse me, I have a teammate to save."

As he strode over to Naruto, he pulled the kunai from his chest, and, sticking two fingers inside, got them bloody before the wound sealed over. Then he walked over to Naruto, smeared the blood on Naruto's lips, and started chanting in Psylan. Then, Naruto sat up slowly, looking around groggily, startling Adam.

As he touched his lips, Naruto said, "What's this stuff on my lips?" Then he caught sight of Adam's bloody fingers and kunai, and he started saying "Oh no, no, no. Adam, that's just gross. What is wrong with you?" He continued to rant and rave for five minutes while Adam sat patiently.

When he finished Adam said, "Right, I have decided! I, Adam Gale, last of the Psykers, call forth Sasuke Uchiha to be my apprentice, and to learn the ways of the Psykers. Do you accept this invitation? It shall increase your power tenfold, and unlock many more styles of Jutsu's."

Sasuke was stunned, "Adam, you truly are full of surprises," he said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Adam with a smile.

"You cannot do this!" said Kakashi, "You are nothing but a student. You have no right to take a student from me!"

"Actually Kakashi," said Adam, "as the sole surviving Psyker, and therefore Grandmaster of the Psyker Guild, I can recruit anyone who I think has potential. If Sasuke chooses, he will train with me for one month. Then he shall go back to you for the rest of the year. And so it shall go on."

"But what if he declines?" asked Kakashi.

"If he does, then he shall stay with you, as if I had never asked. However, should he ever wish to join the Psyker Guild after he has finished his training here, or even if he just wants to talk and spar, he need only ask. But ultimately, it comes down to him. So Sasuke, what say you, do wish to become a Psyker?"

"Will I become immortal, have blood that heals people, and have all the other things you have?" he asked

"No. If you wanted that, you would have to go through ten years of intensive training, whereby, to succeed, you needed to kill the other children you shared a bunk with. What you _will_ gain access to, however, is some of my Psyjutsu techniques; I will teach you the ability to split your energy between chakra and Psyk. You will gain techniques that will make it easier to kill…the person you wish to. Now, do you accept?"

"I…" began Sasuke, when he saw Kakashi shaking his head slightly.

Suddenly Adam said, "Kakashi, stop trying to influence him. Let him make up his own mind."

"I accept your offer," said Sasuke.

"Good," said Adam, "now that I am your Grandmaster, you will refer to me as master, or Grandmaster while the training is in progress. Any other time, just call me Adam, as normal. The training will be hard…maybe a better word would be brutal…but it will be worth it in the end. At the end of twelve years, you will be able to move faster than the eye can see, so fast that you will leave an afterimage. Furthermore, you will be able to punch with enough force to level a mountain, with no more effort than punching Naruto."

"Hey!" exclaimed Naruto, disliking Adam's comparison.

"Tw-twelve years?" stuttered Sasuke, "you said one month!"

"Yes, one month a year. I expect your training will be done by twelve years. Alternatively, you could get one year off from Kakashi now, and we could finish your training in one year, although it will almost undoubtedly kill you in the process."

Sasuke immediately turned to Kakashi, "Kakashi sensei, I am requesting…" he began.

"No, Sasuke," said Kakashi, "I will not, can not, grant you leave for one year. You are nothing but a Genin!"

"But in a year, I will be stronger than any Jonin!" protested Sasuke.

"If you wish," began Adam in a quiet voice, "you could forsake your vows of fealty to this village. You and I could start our own clan. Start our own village."

"Grandmaster, you go too far!" said Sasuke, "Fine, I agree to the one month a year training regime."

"Good," said Adam brightly, "you'll probably need the other eleven months to recover. We shall start at the New Year, six months from now. If you wish to stay alive, I suggest you focus totally on your chakra control. Oh, and your stamina to withstand days on end without food," he ended in with a savage smile.

"Hey! What about me, Grandmaster?" asked Naruto, pitifully trying to gain respect.

"What about you indeed, Naruto. The Nine-Tailed Fox inside you certainly would help, maybe you would be a better disciple than Sasuke, if you listened sometimes…but I'm sorry. The Adaptus Psykarus, the manuscript we Psykers live our lives by, dictates Psykers only take one apprentice per century. Maybe in a hundred years or so, should you live that long, I might consider taking you under my wing. However, I can give you something that will help in the coming years. Take off your jumper and shirt, and lift your arms up above your head."

Naruto does so, asking, "Will this help me become a Psyker thingo?"

"No, but it will make you stronger by threefold, increasing your stamina, speed and reaction times. If it goes according to plan, it will also increase your life span by approximately a hundred years, assuming you don't get killed beforehand. Now, let's see what we can do," as he put his hand on Naruto's stomach, Kakashi started forward, thinking he knew what Adam was going to do. "Don't meddle," snarled Adam, "you have no clue what I'm going to achieve here. Now let me unlock Naruto's power. Oh, Naruto, I forgot to mention…this might kill you." As alarm flashed across Naruto's face, Adam said very fast in Psylan,

"_Astra ehto methna sa'kaguro entra astra nexi tomo casa!_"

As Adam finished chanting, he pushed his hand, fingers spread apart, straight into Naruto's stomach, directly over the mark of the Sealing Jutsu that sealed the Demon Fox inside him. Naruto began to rise, red and blue flames licking his body, then, Naruto started screaming, while Adam just stood by, watching.

"Adam!!" yelled Kakashi, "Why did you release the Fox?! Are you insane?!"

"I released it," Adam chuckled, "and then bound it to Naruto. Now Naruto can use the Fox's chakra without it consuming him or it breaking free. What I said was 'Daemon inside, unbind thou mystic form and serve thy lord, the body to whom thou is bound'. Well…roughly, considering Psylan's 'you', 'me' and 'I' are all in the form of old English. I think the Fox got the idea anyway. He's sure as hell not happy about it. And when I said he can use the Fox's chakra, I meant if he survived the parting. Still, if he can hold onto a demon fox inside him for fourteen years, having it separated from his soul should be no big deal."

"His—his _soul_?" asked Sakura.

"Oh, boy," sighed Adam, "here we go. Ok, children, time for _Adam's talk about things that should be general knowledge._ What is a soul exactly? That one question has stumped surgeons, priests, pretty much everyone in the world since the dawn of time. Except for me. I have, with great sweat, pain and tears, uncovered the essence of our bodies. If I killed Sasuke right now, and did not revive him, or took to long, what would happen with his soul? First we must asked ourselves, is the soul chained to our bodies, or can it leave us, and the only thing keeping it there is some huge unconscious force of willpower?

"After studying this question, which almost killed me on at least five occasions, for the past ten years, I have found it to be the latter explanation. So if I did kill Sasuke, and let him actually _die_, then, yes, his soul would be free, to go to heaven, hell, or wherever it is Shinobi believe you go after death. Now, the Fourth Hokage, I assume you all know who he is, thought he sealed the Fox just into Naruto's body, but he made a huge mistake. He bound the Fox to Naruto's _soul_. Can anyone tell me what this might mean?"

"That, if Naruto was left untreated, and he died, his soul could…I don't know…_inhabit_ another body?" asked Kakashi, who had come over to listen.

"Ah, Kakashi, you are a smart one. If I hadn't already offered the place to Sasuke, I would ask you to become my apprentice. But yes, you are right. Normally, once the person is dead, the soul is free to leave, and with normal people, it always does. But with Naruto's soul, it has another being attached to it, so the Fox could control Naruto's soul. Then, yes, he could inhabit another body, stronger than Naruto's, and then force the new host to release the Sealing Jutsu around him. Suddenly, we have another Nine-Tailed Fox running around, with no Fourth Hokage anymore. That, I imagine, would be quite bad, especially if I deigned not to help out. What I did was release the Fox from Naruto's soul, but bound it to his body. This means that when Naruto actually manages to _die_, which isn't going to be an easy feat anymore, then the Fox will die with him, leaving his _soul_ to go wherever it wants, since no one but me can stop, or even see, a soul."

"You, you can see them?" asked Sakura.

"See them? My dear girl, whenever I get the chance, I _feed_ off them. Some people, well actually all people, would call this an abomination of mankind, and that I was probably some evil sorcerer to boot. You know, now that I stop to think about it, they're probably right. Heh, think of that, not only do I kill people, I stop them from having eternal peace."

"That _is_ cruel," said Kakashi, disgust evident even under his mask.

"Well, I suppose it was really stopping them from having eternal punishment. I only eat the souls of evil people, like murderers and rapists."

"It's still wrong," said Kakashi stubbornly.

"Well, it was either let them go to hell and get tormented by the devil, who, by the way, I plan to meet someday, or let them become part of me, and make them help me become that much stronger. If I randomly went around killing people and eating their souls, I would be able to shatter the whole world with a click of my fingers, but, luckily for the world, I don't. Anyhow, Naruto should be coming around soon, should he have survived the Parting."

"Whoa," said Naruto as he sat up, "I don't feel so good,"

Adam jumped over the heads of the others and landed next to Naruto, helping him up.

"Naruto, how do you feel? Inside I mean," asked Adam.

"Here, I'll show you," said Naruto drunkenly as he stumbled over to the side of the bridge and vomited over the side. "Give you an idea yet?" he asked once he had finished.

"Yeah," said Adam, "it means that, although the Fox is one pissed off beast, it has decided to go with the flow…for now."

"Fox? What fox?" asked Naruto.

"Uh…it's better you don't know," said Adam uncertainly, casting a quick look at Kakashi, who was shaking his head.

"I want to know what you guys were talking about!" said Naruto, his voice rising. At that point and time, everybody present could picture Naruto as a baby about to have a tantrum.

Adam walked over to Naruto and squatted next to him, "You know what, Naruto? I think it would be better if you _slepia_," he said, saying the last word in Psylan, which meant _sleep_. In the language of power, Naruto had no choice, and as soon as Adam had breathed the word, he nodded off into La-la-land.

"Wow, Adam," said Kakashi, obviously impressed, "what did you do?"

"Hmm? Oh I just told him to go to sleep."

"That all?"

"Nothing more, nothing less, I assure you. Now what did you call us here for, before this entire ruckus about deaths, Foxes and souls popped up?"

"Oh, just to tell you we got our first mission," answered Kakashi, who tactfully refused to point out it was Adam who started 'this entire ruckus about deaths, Foxes and souls.'

"D-rank, I suppose," asked Adam, not the least bit surprised.

"No actually. After the Hokage saw your score for the initiation exam, he thought we could progress straight to a C-rank, if only to test the limits of your skills."

"I could simultaneously complete 5 A-rank missions in less than half an hour with out pushing a quarter of my limits," said Adam quietly.

"That may be," said Kakashi with a slight smile showing through his mask, "but the Hokage isn't to know that."

"Ok," said Adam, "what's our job?"

"Our _mission_," started Kakashi, laying stress on the word, "is to escort someone back to there hometown without letting him get killed."

"Easy," said Adam, "Do we have to do this the conventional way, or can I teleport him, with little fuss?"

"Unfortunately, he specified conventional," said Kakashi.

"He didn't really, did he?" asked Adam, "You're just saying that for one of two reasons: a) you want to have some fun, or b) you want Naruto and the others to get some experience. Since you seem like a guy that doesn't enjoy much stuff, I'm going to have to go with _'b'_. Am I right?"

"Uh, yes, you are. How did you know? Oh, right, you looked into my mind didn't you?"

"Sorry," smiled Adam, "Force of habit. So when are we leaving?"

"As soon as the man, Mr. Tazuna, shows himself. I told him to meet us here."

"Well, wait no longer, you impatient bastards," said a voice from behind them.

"About time, Tazuna," said Adam, not looking behind him, "What took you so long? I tracked your movement since you woke up this morning. You didn't take any extra long routes…"

"What do you mean you were tracking me?" Tazuna asked.

"Uh, don't worry about it," said Kakashi, shooting a warning look at Adam, who shrugged.

"Eh, all right then," Tazuna said, "Let's get going. I want to get back home within the week."

"Uh-huh," said Kakashi, "and where exactly do you live?"

"A place called _Nami No Kuni._ Heard of it?"

"Yeah, the Land of Waves," said Kakashi, "Well, we better get going."


	6. Chapter 6

Later that day, they were walking along the road to get to the Narrow Sea, the strip of water separating the mainland of the country to the two main islands that house the _Kumogakure No Sato, _or Lightning Ninja, and the _Kirigakure No Sato,_ or Mist Ninja, respectively. Apart from them, there were numerous smaller islands that weren't important enough to have their own Ninja school, such as Tazuna's Nami No Kuni, Land of Waves. As they passed through a clearing, there was a puddle of water on the ground. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura thought nothing of it, and neither did Tazuna. Adam and Kakashi shared a quick glance, Kakashi's eyes hard, Adam's questioning. Kakashi gave a slight shake of the head, and Adam shrugged slightly, as if shaking off a fly. As they exited the clearing, Adam's enhanced hearing picked up the slight _drip_ of water hitting water over the ambient noise, but kept looking forward; not wishing to show his was interested.

Suddenly from behind, they all heard a voice, _"One little piggie…"_

As they all turned, two Ninja with gasmask-like masks on threw chains from small barrels under their arms at Kakashi, catching him in their grasp and holding him in place. Fear showed in his eyes, though Adam was not fooled for a second. Looking behind Kakashi's eyes, Adam saw a plan forming, and he saw it was a good one, so for now, he just looked surprised and scared. Then the two Ninja pulled back on their chains, slicing Kakashi into pieces. Off to Adam's left, he heard Sakura scream; but there was no time for anything else, for as soon as they two Mist Ninja pulled killed Kakashi, they appeared behind Naruto, whispering _"Two little piggies…"_

Naruto just froze up, not moving, scared into inaction from these two Ninja who placed nothing on life, and just lived for the kill. Sasuke and Adam jumped into the battle, Sasuke throwing a shuriken at the chains, pinning them to a tree, then tossing a kunai through the hole in the shuriken, making sure they _stayed_ pinned; while Adam ran straight at the two Ninja, muttering to himself, _"Uma, I, uma, tori, tora, hitsuji, tora, inu…"_, making the correct hand signs as he was saying the names. Using Psyjutsu, he formed flaming gloves around his hands. These was not some Genjutsu illusion, these were _real_ flames, with real heat, coming straight out of his fist. He struck the Ninja on the right of Naruto in the chest, not only punching through the skin, but out of his spine through his back, searing the flesh on the way and filling the air with the stench of burnt human meat. As the other one disengaged his chains, letting him move freely again, Adam was already on him, literally. The second Mist Ninja was knocked on his back Adam kneeling on his chest, looking into his eyes. When he was sure he had the man's undivided attention he said, _"Astra e neu eindar mi cosimiar,"_

Then he stood off the man, letting him get to his feet.

"Adam, what are you doing!?" yelled Sasuke, "You should've finished him!"

"Oh, but Sasuke," said Adam, a sick smile coming to his face, the same one he had when he killed Naruto, "I already have."

With that, he lifted his right arm, and as he did, so did the Mist Ninja, absolute fear in his eyes. Adam licked his lips, laughing at the man's fear. "Now, Mist Ninja," he said, "I will give you one chance at life. Tell me who you are working for."

"N-no one, my lord!" stammered the Ninja.

"So, you just decided to stake out this place, waiting for, oh I don't know, maybe five Ninja and a bridge builder to come along, all on your own?" asked Adam, sarcasm mixing dangerously with anger, "I asked you once. I shall ask again, who are you working for?"

"If, if I told you…he said he'd kill me," said the Ninja, keeping Adam's eye only because the Psyjutsu made him.

"Ah, but if you don't, I'll kill you," said Adam brightly, "Now, three strikes and you're out, so, one last time. TELL ME WHO YOU ARE WORKING FOR!!!"

"Zabuza Momochi, the Hidden Mist Demon!! I swear that's who I'm working for, just him. Please don't kill me! I told you what you wanted now let me go."

He was actually crying, trying desperately to pull free of Adam's psychic grasp.

"Yes, I suppose you did," said Adam, almost to himself, "so I suppose I can't kill you, since that would break the Adaptus Psykarus, thus rendering my life nil and cutting off my powers, so I suppose I will let you live."

Hope shone through the Mist Ninja's eyes.

"Well, sort of. Lucky people can live without a soul, huh? You _did_ lie twice, so I am allowed, by Psyker law, to take some compensation. I choose your soul."

"Take it!" shouted the Ninja hysterically, sure that this madman could not do such a thing.

"Ok," said Adam, "Just remember, you agreed to this."

Adam put one hand out, fingers like a claw, over the Ninja's heart, the other forming half of the _Tiger_ hand sign, repeating, "_Soulas vas. __Soulasvos ras en mi. Soulas vas. Soulasvos ras en mi."_

"Adam?" asked Sasuke, "What are you saying?"

For one verse, Adam slipped back to English, though still infusing the words with power, "Soul, come. Soul, come live in me. Soul, come. Soul, come live in me."

Little by little, a small green orb appeared above the Ninja's chest, while all life seemed to drain out of the Ninja, his skin going grey and his eyes sinking back into his skull. When the whole soul had appeared, Adam stopped talking and brought the soul close to him. Then, aware of everyone else, opened his mouth and ate the soul…well, as much as it is possible to eat a soul. Then he turned to the others and they could see the whites of Adam's eyes had turned green, and they could see the man screaming behind his eyes. Then, half a second later, it was gone, and they were all thinking if they had imagined it. They looked back at the Mist Ninja, who was on the ground, his hair white, his skin pale, and he had a distant look in his eyes, as if staring at some unknown horror.

"And that, children," said Adam, addressing Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, "is why you must guard your soul with your life. Understand?"

"Uh, y-yeah," said Naruto, "but that green thing…was that really his soul?"

"Yeah," said Adam, "but he wasn't as evil as I though he was…"

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Well…for really evil people, their soul is a deep red, like blood. For people that have lived their life well, their soul is ocean blue. Green is somewhere in the middle, just leaning to the evil side."

"Ok…" said Naruto, "but I think the main question is…where's Kakashi sensei? I mean, I know he got cut and everything, but shouldn't there be some body parts or something?"

"Right here," said Kakashi from behind them.

"How did you know they were there?" asked Naruto.

"It was a hot day," started Kakashi, "It hadn't rained for several days. Why would there be a puddle on the ground? You learn to pick up this kind of stuff as you get more experience. Sorry I didn't help earlier but I didn't expect Naruto to freeze up like that. You two did well, reacting like that."

"Naruto," said Adam, "I know it will take some time, but start getting used to your new powers. You could have taken them out without breaking a sweat. Remember, you have the strength of the Nine-Tailed Fox now. Still, a little help would've been nice, Kakashi."

"It looked like you didn't need help," Kakashi answered.

"Yeah, I suppose…but what if I was incapacitated, or dead?" Adam asked.

"I have never seen you incapacitated," said Kakashi, "and as far as we know, you can't die."

"Oh, I can die, Kakashi," said Adam, "it takes a lot, but I can die. Or even worse, my soul could be stolen, by Ïvorien, the last Psyker apart from me."

"You mean there's another Psyker out there?" asked Sakura meekly.

"Hmm? Oh my word yes. He's tried to kill me on at least three separate occasions and has managed to at least once. In fact," he continued, "this isn't actually my real body. I had my soul leave my body and inhabit another. I took all my powers and looks with me."

"So you stole someone else's…" Kakashi began, then, "Get down!!"

He quickly threw himself at Naruto and Sakura, trusting Sasuke to get Tazuna. As Adam turned around, he saw a huge sword, at least six feet long, coming straight at his chest. He was too slow to duck, and it impaled him in the chest. He stumbled backwards, for although he was immortal, he was still physical, so the momentum of the sword carried him back. Then he started falling. As he was falling he looked at Kakashi and winked slowly. He then landed on his back, and suddenly saw a man standing on the tip of the hilt, driving the sword in deeper.

"Zabuza Momochi," said Kakashi from somewhere behind him, "the 'Demon of the Mist'."

"You must be Kakashi Hatake, the Mirror-Ninja. What an honour. Unfortunately, I can't stay and play. My employer has business with the old man."

"Your employer?" queried Kakashi, "I thought you were a rogue Ninja."

"I am. I no longer have any ties to the _Mizukagé_, or any other Kirigakure Ninja. I work for whomever I wish."

"So who ordered the hit on Tazuna?" asked Kakashi.

"Oh, you might have heard of him. His name's Gatô."

"_Gatô?! _ Of _Gatô Shipping and Transport?! The_ Gatô?! He's said to be the richest man alive!"

"They're not wrong," laughed Zabuza quietly, "So since it was Gatô who ordered the hit, I can hardly ignore him."

"You are right…Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura, form up on Mr. Tazuna. Manji Battle Formation," said Kakashi, tactically not drawing attention to Adam.

"Ah, Kakashi. That won't work. Now, if you won't give me Tazuna, I'll have to take him from you. Prepare to witness the finest of Ninja arts."

When he finished talking, he leapt off the sword, leaving it impaled in Adam, and landed on the surface of the nearby lake. He summoned up his chakra as said, "Behold, the Kirigakure Jutsu. Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

With that, a massive layer of fog came down over the others, concealing Zabuza, and making almost impossible for them to see for more than a few feet in front of them.

"_There are eight separate death points on the body,"_ said Zabuza from somewhere in the mist, _"Throat. Spinal Column. Lungs. Liver. Jugular Vein. Subclavian Artery. Kidneys. Heart. There are so many choices…where to aim first?"_

As Zabuza was talking, Kakashi pulled the headband he wore over one eye up so it revealed it. There was a scar running from about an inch above his eyebrow to about one inch below his cheekbone. That was not what got everyone's attention, however. It was the eye itself. The iris was red and the pupil was midnight black, with three little 'commas' surrounding it.

Sasuke gasped, "The Sharingan!"

"Sharingan?" asked Naruto, "What's that?"

"The Sharingan," Sakura began, "lets the Ninja that has it copy any Nin- Gen- or Taijutsu. It can also see through any illusion, but this mist is real, so he can't see through it. The Sharingan or 'mirror-wheel' eye is…"

"The Uchiha clan's _kekkei-genkai,"_ finished Sasuke, who had gone pale at what this new development might mean.

"The Uchiha clan's whosiwhatsis?" asked Naruto, totally out of his intellect depth.

"Our genetic ability," said Sasuke, "which means…"

"No way," said Naruto, "Kakashi's part of your _clan?_"

"It's the only way he could have gotten it," answered Sasuke.

They all turned back, trying to see Zabuza.

Adam's hands slowly came together, just out of sight of where he saw Zabuza last. "Uma," he whispered to himself, "I, tori, tora, mi, ne, tora, hitsuji, ne, inu." As he said the last word, and made the last hand sign, the fog dropped away, revealing him standing just behind Kakashi. Kakashi was too slow, however, and Zabuza kicked him in the back, sending him reeling towards the lake, but stopped just short.

Zabuza turned, furious, "Which one of you brats removed the hidden mist?"

"Not one of them," said Adam.

"W-what?!" stammered Zabuza, turning to face Adam, who was now kneeling, the sword still in him, the hilt touching the ground, the blade pointing skywards. "What _are_ you?" he continued, beginning to step backwards.

"Heh, you wouldn't believe how many times I'm asked that question," said Adam, "Oh, by the way, do you want your sword back?" With that, he ripped the sword out sideways through his side, and flung it at Zabuza, using Psyk to make it arc around and cut the vulnerable tendons at the back of his knees. Zabuza screamed and fell to his knees. Adam walked over to him, squatting down in front of him and looking in his eyes. He saw fear in them and he stood, disgusted at this man who lay on the ground in front of him. Adam kicked him onto his stomach and set to work healing the backs of his knees. As Adam started chanting in Psylan, he made up his mind, _Zabuza doesn't deserve my blood_, he thought, _His muscles will have to heal at the normal rate, although the skin will be intact._

"Adam! What do you think you're doing?!" yelled Sakura.

"Everyone, _everyone_, deserves a chance at redemption, Sakura. Even him."

"Adam, stop this now!" yelled Kakashi, who had shaken off the effects of the kick and had started back towards Adam.

"Too late, Kakashi. He his healed," said Adam.

"Well, then," said Kakashi, drawing a kunai, "I suppose I'll have to _UN-_heal him."

As the kunai began its downward arc, Zabuza's sword leapt into Adam's hand, almost of its own accord. As Adam blocked the blow he snarled, "I said everyone deserves a second chance. I mean it, Kakashi. I may be but a Genin by Ninja standards, but I have seen more blood and death than any village in this country. I _will_ stop you, should you continue the attack. I gave my word to protect him the moment I healed him. _You_ will not make me break it."

"Then you are a traitor to your village," said Kakashi, a little triumphantly, "So you must be exiled."

"I would rather be exiled from an insignificant Ninja village than lose my Psyker powers," said Adam, aiming to make Kakashi angry. He succeeded.

"_Insignificant?_ I'll show you insignificant, you little runt!" he yelled, disengaging from Adam and leaping backwards.

"Kakashi, think for a second," said Adam, "Which country is the biggest?"

"Hidden Leaf," said Kakashi, unsure where this was going.

"Why is it the biggest?" Adam asked, dropping the sword.

"Because we expanded our borders," said Kakashi, keeping a tight grip on his kunai.

"Whose borders did you expand into?" asked Adam.

"The other countries, but…"

"_Exactly!_ You stole from the other villages. Instead of produce or cloth, you stole _land_, which is a lot more important. Did your village ask permission to take over the other villages land?"

"No, but…"

"So why did you do it?"

"Because we needed it,"

"But didn't the other villages need it as well? If they didn't, they wouldn't have put claims on it when the first territories were marked."

"I don't see where this is leading…"

"I'm saying that if I was to punish all the people who did something wrong, without giving them a chance to change, this island would be almost deserted."

"What? Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because I would've killed them all," said Adam simply.

As Zabuza began to stir, Adam walked over to him. "Zabuza, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"How do you think I'm feeling?" he snapped, "I just got the tendons in the back of my legs cut, then stitched back together by a person that has the finesse of a butcher."

"I'm glad you think so highly of me," said Adam with a smile, "However, since the Adaptus Psykarus says I'm to give everyone I defeat a second chance, I have done that. Should you attack again, though, I will have no qualms about cutting you down. Be forewarned."

"I must get the man," said Zabuza, "I already have a contract with Gatô. One hundred thousand yen for the man dead. One and a half if he's alive."

"Hmm…" said Adam, "you are in a predicament aren't you? You _don't _take the man, and Gatô kills you. You _try_ to take the man, and we kill you. However…"

"However what?" Zabuza asked, "There is no _however_ about it. Those, it seems, are my two choices."

"I have an alternative, if you would like to hear it," Adam suggested, surprising everybody.

"As long as it doesn't put any of us in danger," said Kakashi, "I think it would be ok. I still don't trust Zabuza though."

"The feeling's mutual, Kakashi, believe me," answered Zabuza.

"I suggest we…" Adam began, forming the _Tori_ (or _bird_) hand sign. He then muttered, "Tori, inu, saru, I, tora, hitsuji, tori, ne…Kakashi, could you please stop copying me with your Sharingan, it's slightly disturbing."

"But the hand signs you're making," said Zabuza, "they'll use up too much of your chakra. You'll die!"

"Die? I thought we established that I _can't_ die?" said Adam with a smile, "So let me work my magic, dammit."

He started again, "Tori, inu, saru, I, tora, hitsuji, tori, ne, ushi, mi, tora, ne, uma, TATSU!"

On the last hand sign, a huge gust of wind blew through the clearing, shaking heaps of leaves from the trees. Even though most of the leaves fell down normally, no leaves would fall within ten centimetres of Tazuna. Zabuza and Kakashi gasped, astounded that this small boy could produce so much chakra. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were, allowably, a little slow on the uptake.

"I don't get it," said Naruto, "what did you do?"

"Watch and learn," said Adam, obviously pleased with his work. He ran towards Tazuna, grasping Zabuza's six-foot-long sword as he did. He leapt into the air and made as if to cleave Tazuna from head to toe.

"Adam, wait!" yelled Kakashi, "A Protection Jutsu can't stand up to that amount of force!!"

As the huge sword just touched the invisible barrier, a massive crack ran though the sword, and it snapped in half, jarring Adam's arm from wrist to shoulder.

"Really?" he asked, "I think I worked ok. Just in case, however, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra guard…"

"I'm good at Shadow Clones," piped up Naruto, "I can do it."

"That's not quite what I'm thinking of," said Adam, "More like…_this!_"

As he finished, he started making rapid hand signs, muttering, in one long breath "inu-tori-tora-hitsuji-mi-ushi-inu-ne-tora-ne-tori-I-tatsu…"

As he finished, he drew a kunai and stabbed himself through the hand, drawing gasps from everyone. He then put his hand on the ground, and yelled "Summoning Jutsu!"

"Kakashi, this boy is your pupil. Tell me, where did he learn a Summoning Jutsu, and how does he have enough chakra to use it after producing such an impossibly strong Protection Jutsu?" asked Zabuza, forgetting for a moment that they were enemies.

"Trust me, I'm learning new things about this guy every day," said Kakashi, just as amazed.

"But I didn't recognise those hand signs," Zabuza continued, "and I know almost every Summoning Jutsu, even if I can't perform them."

"_SHRRGNEIN, GOD OF WOLVES, HUNT WITH US THIS NIGHT! PROTECT US FROM ENEMIES AND BATHE YOUR CLAWS IN THEIR BLOOD!"_ yelled Adam. From far off, they could hear a wolf howl.

"Shrrgnein? What is Shrrgnein?" asked Sasuke.

"Make sure you don't address him as a dumb animal. He's liable to rip your head off for your insolence," answered Adam with a smile, as another wolf howled.

"Ok, then," said Sasuke exasperatedly, "_Who_ is Shrrgnein?"

"That's better. Shrrgnein is, if you were listening, the god of wolves, god of the hunt, god of claws and teeth."

"And you _summoned_ him?" asked Kakashi incredulously, "You summoned a _god?!_"

"Well, if he consents to appear before mortals, then yeah," said Adam.

"So if we weren't here, he would definitely appear?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah. Well, he has every other time," said Adam with a smile.

"What?" asked Zabuza, "You mean to tell me this kid's _immortal_ or some crap? Bullshit, no one's invincible."

"Two things, Zabuza," said Kakashi, "One, he is not a kid, he is older than you and me combined. Two, he's not invincible, he's immortal. He can still be hurt, but he can't die. Well, that's not exactly true. Adam, can you feel pain?"

"Hmm? Yes I can, but it's numbed down, like if an anaesthetic had been applied; just enough so I know I've been hit, but not enough for me to actually _feel_ it. Oh damn, here comes Shrrgnein! You guys might not like it, but if you want to live, get down on one knee and bow. Trust me; you _don't_ want to piss off this god. Even I might not be strong enough to save you. Just because I'm immortal doesn't mean I can stand up to a god."

As he finished, a long howl, the longest yet, pierced the sky. As soon as he heard it, Adam sunk to one knee and bowed his head in the direction of the howl. The others were amazed. They had never seen, or had reason to suspect that, Adam would debase himself.

"Now!" he hissed, "Get down now! If you have a death wish, by all means, stay up, but otherwise you _have_ to trust me!"

Kakashi followed suit first, sinking to his knee, head bowed, like Adam. Then Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto followed, more because of Kakashi than Adam. Last was Zabuza and Tazuna, who managed to bow just in time before the trees in front of them crashed aside, and there stood a huge wolf, at least ten meters high, maybe more, with silver fur and a scar running from his right eye to the tip of his mouth. The eye with the scar was milky white, but the other was full of life and intelligence.

_ Rise, Master Tovríen. You need not pay homage to me _ said a voice, just appearing in everyone's head.

"Master Tovríen?" asked Naruto, "Who's that?"

_ Silence, cub! _ said the voice, who could only be Shrrgnein _ I did not speak to you, and so you remain silent! _

Naruto was about to reply when he caught sight of Adam, shaking his head slowly, looking straight into his eyes, sending him a silent message. Adam's eyes said, _what did I say about pissing this guy off? Now SHUT UP!_

In response to Shrrgnein, Adam stood and moved towards him, talking in Psylan. As he said something, Shrrgnein chuckled and shook his head, like a dog shaking himself dry. Adam then gestured at Kakashi, then Naruto and the others, then finally to Tazuna and Zabuza.

_ It seems _ said Shrrgnein, _ that I am to protect your pack until this man _he nudged Tazuna, _has reached his den. Is that right? _

"It is, noble Shrrgnein," said Kakashi, trying his best not to offend a god, and, at the same time, try to understand the way Shrrgnein talked.

_ What is your name, youngling? _ asked Shrrgnein.

"I am Kakashi Hatake, Adam's teacher in the arts of Ninjutsu," said Kakashi, rising from his keeling stance.

_ From what I hear from Tovríen, Adam, as you call him, you are a good teacher, a little irrational at times, but all the same. I thank you for keeping him alive for this time. _

"Oh, um, the honour was mine, Shrrgnein," said Kakashi, "It was only after he was my pupil did I learn he was a Psyker. Did he tell you he had apprenticed Sasuke, another one of my students?"

_ Indeed he did not _said Shrrgnein, _ but is sounds like the sort of thing he'd do. Am I right Tovríen? _

"Ah, Shrrgnein, you know me too well," said Adam, "By the way, his name means 'Wolfheart' in Psylan, so you can call him that to if you want."

"Shrrgnein," said Kakashi, "why do you call Adam 'Tovríen'?"

_ Tovríen is Adam's true name in Psylan _said Shrrgnein, _ therefore, his name carries great power _

"Shrrgnein," said Adam, "we are expecting another attack from more Kirigakure Ninja. Would you…"

_ Stand guard while you get some sleep? Of course, Master Tovríen. Rest, and I shall stay vigilant _

"Thank you, lord of the hunt," said Adam. Then he turned to Zabuza, "You should call down Haku. He shouldn't stay in the tree while we're down here."

"_You_ know about Haku?" asked Zabuza incredulously.

"Not until I looked into your mind," said Adam, turning to face the trees. "Haku!" he yelled, "Come down to our camp! You don't have to stay in the trees!"

After a couple of seconds, a boy leapt gracefully from one of the upper branches and landed in a kneeling position on the ground. "How did you know where I was?" he asked

"As I was scanning Zabuza's mind, I saw an image of you and where you were hiding. It was no big deal," Adam answered with a shrug.

"But Lord Zabuza was hired to kill the old man," said Haku, "and he has never failed a mission."

"Zabuza isn't lord of very much right now, not with his knees the way they are. As for the mission, he decided to…swap over."

"But what about the money?" asked Haku, "Lord Zabuza never leaves a job unfinished if there is money still left in it."

"I suppose you're right," said Adam, casting a look at Zabuza, who was following their exchange intently, "I guess everyone has to eat. Zabuza, catch!" He then pulled something out of his pocket and threw it over to Zabuza, who caught it, surprised.

"Inside that wallet," Adam said, "is one and a half million yen. Your reward for bringing Tazuna alive, yeah? Well, new mission for you. For an extra half a million yen, you stick with us and protect him. Deal? If you accept, I'll throw in an extra leg-healing operation for you."

"What have I done to deserve this kindness? There must be some catch," said Zabuza, switching his gaze between the wallet in his hand and Adam.

"There is no catch. Even though you have the eyes of a murderer, I can see your heart. I saw it the second I cut your legs, and you were silently begging for mercy. Ninja, like the wolf, are only supposed to kill for two reasons: one, you need to hunt for food; or two, you are under attack. Even honourable villages like the Village Hidden in the Leaves break these rules. You, however, are worse. You kill because you are bored. You kill because there is money in it. You kill…for _fun_. That is inexcusable. I have already given you a second chance at life, but only because the Adaptus Psykarus says I must. Shrrgnein, however, has no such prohibitions. Shrrgnein, god of wolves, how do you judge this man?"

_ He may be evil _ said Shrrgnein, _ but I see a spark of redemption in his eyes. Zabuza Momochi, the Hidden Demon Hidden in the Mist, do you think you can stop killing for pleasure? _

"I—I can try, my lord," said Zabuza, looking at the ground.

_ That shall do…for now. Watch your back, Zabuza Momochi, for if you kill outside of these tenets, I shall know, and you shall die _

_ As for you, youngling _ he continued, swinging his head around to look at Haku, _you have not the eyes of one who has killed. You refrain as much as possible. You follow the Laws of Death. If there is something you wish that is honourable, and if it within my power, I shall grant it _

"N—No, my god. The only thing I wish is for my master to be healed," answered Haku, eyes downcast.

_ So be it_ said Shrrgnein, _ Tovríen, you heard. Impose my will _

"Yes, noble Shrrgnein," said Adam, moving towards Zabuza. "You know, Zabuza," he continued, "Haku is really devoted to you. You are lucky to have him."

"I know," said Zabuza, looking over at Haku, who was watching Adam, ready to attack at a moments notice.

"But I don't think you do," said Adam, rolling Zabuza onto his stomach, "You see, as I went through Haku's memory, I saw only one memory that involved you praising him. That was when he made his first kill. Throughout all his training, he did it all for you. I suppose, in a way, he's like Naruto."

Naruto finally took interest in the proceedings. "What do you mean, 'like me'?" he asked.

"Kakashi knows what I mean," said Adam, as he put his hands on the back of Zabuza's knees, "What I mean is, he, like you, tried his best at everything. You threw yourself into your training, hoping someone would notice, and say 'Hey Naruto, nice work'. But they never did, so you turned to being the class clown to get people to notice you. You think that when you become Hokage, people are going to acknowledge you? Naruto, they already do, but not in the way you're hoping. People only see you as a little, annoying kid who plays up just to annoy people. Am I getting close?"

"Yeah…" said Naruto, looking away.

"It was no fault of yours, Naruto," Adam said, looking at Kakashi, who nodding, agreeing with was Adam was about to say. "You see, the only reason people kept their distance from you was because you have the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside you."

"I—What?" asked Naruto, dumbstruck, with Sasuke and Sakura looking pretty much the same.

"_Seíra Híeal!_" said Adam, fixing Zabuza's legs, then turned back to Naruto, "I suppose you remember the story of the Nine-Tailed Fox, yeah? How the Fourth Hokage saved the Village? He saved it by attaching the spirit of the Fox to your soul. Remember back on Southsway Bridge I said I'd unleash your hidden power? That's what I did. I released the fox from your soul and attached it to your body. Over time, your features will take on fox-like qualities, like long canine teeth and the like, but it's a small price to pay."

"Not for me!!" yelled Naruto, "Now I'll be even MORE of an outcast thanks to you!"

"Naruto!" said Adam sharply, "Your father wanted you to be hailed as a hero, not a demon in human form. He gave his life for you. If anything, the fault falls to the ignorant people of Hidden Leaf Village for being so damn blind! Just think; you, a baby, barely a day old, and you housed a demon that could destroy countries. Most people would call that remarkable, but no, most called _you_ the demon. Only a select few like Kakashi and Iruka can see past the demon, into _you_."

"Wait," said Naruto, "My _what?_"

"Your father. You mean nobody told you? You see, if you had been told, nobody would have disrespected you. Everybody would call you a hero!"

"You—you know my father?" asked Naruto, looking up hopefully.

"_Knew_, Naruto, knew," said Adam, not unkindly.

"You mean…" said Naruto, going sad again.

"He was the one man who did more for me than any other alive. I only knew him for a few minutes, but I will remember them for the rest of my life."

"So who was he?" asked Sasuke, interested more than his face showed.

"I thought it would be obvious," said Adam, looking from face to face, seeing blank stares everywhere. "Naruto's father was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage."


	7. Chapter 7

"A—are you _serious?!_" asked Naruto, looking up again.

"Deadly serious," said Adam, "Remember how I said I don't lie when talking about my powers or my past? This is one of those times. I got to this land fifteen years ago, and made a house high in the hills of the Hidden Leaf Village. Since it was quiet, it was better for me to train than my homeland. That was when I first met Shrrgnein. Anyway, little did I know that, two years after settling down, there was going to be a war of titanic proportions. I am, of course, talking about the war with the Fox. As the Ninja were assembling out on the planes to west, I ran to join them, seeing if there was any way I could help. Knowing that I would be shunned, however, I did not join the ANBU Black Ops, but rather just melded in with the other Jonin who would fight. The Shinobi messenger got to the Hokage just as we first heard the roar of the Fox. He was halfway to the battlefield when it attacked. I revealed myself as it approached; I leapt to the front of the battle line and made it stop in its tracks. I managed to stop it for long enough so the other Ninja could close in. Then I summoned Shrrgnein and the other five Titanic Wolves on his council to fight alongside us. I suppose Kakashi would remember that, hmm? Terrific sight, was it not?"

"You are right Adam," said Kakashi, staring out into the rapidly darkening sky, "Those wolves were huge, and they gave the Fox a run for its money. It's there that Shrrgnein got his scar, right?"

"Right," said Adam, picking up the story again, "One of the Fox's tails whipped out and hit Shrrgnein in the eye, blinding him for a second. It was enough for the Fox to be on him. Sha'fure, Zaneshi and Sureneí were, and probably still are, sorely missed."

"Who were they?" asked Naruto, his eyes sparkling as his imagination played out the scene Adam described.

"They were the three Titanic Wolves that died protecting Shrrgnein that night. Furthermore, Lanesh was crippled so badly that he could not fight, or barely move, for five years, until I had gathered enough Psyk to fix his many injuries."

As he spoke about the wolves, Shrrgnein lifted his head and howled in sorrow, remembering friends gone by.

"We were almost wiped out when the Hokage arrived. I was knocked to the ground from one of the Fox's paws, and it was set to finish the job and kill the one who had brought the most pain upon it when the Fourth Hokage ran in front of me and took the blow himself."

"Couldn't you have saved yourself?" asked Naruto.

"I could have if I hadn't been fighting for the past five hours, healing the injured and strengthening the weak. As I said, I had only known the Fourth for a few minutes, but he saved my life. As he was knocked over, and the Fox moved his attention to him, I managed to freeze the Fox in place, paralysing his mind. As I ran over to the Fourth Hokage, I knew I would be too late. I can heal the sick and raise the dead, but the Fourth was too far gone. Imagine being hit by a house. That's what the Fox's paws felt like. As I knelt next to him, he told me of you, and his dream of you to become a hero. He told me what to do, and I followed his orders. It was the least I could do since he saved my life. So I sealed the Fox inside you, all set to announce to the world that your father was a hero, and that you should be hailed as one to. But alas, people are not so forgiving. When I told them you harboured the Fox, they refused to listen further. They turned their backs, and, even now, they live in ignorance. When we return to Konohagure, if you wish, I shall call a meeting and tell them of your heritage. You will no longer be shunned by society; you will be welcomed with opened arms as a hero. As a memorial to the hero's of the war, I carved the faces of the Hokage myself, as did I make the memorial to the dead Jonin and Chunin."

"Would—would you really tell everyone about me? Just so I am respected?" asked Naruto, overwhelmed by this boy's kindness.

"Of course. If that is what you wish."

"Yes, it is," said Naruto, bowing his head, "Thank you."

"Good," said Adam, "Now it is getting late, and we need to get up early tomorrow if we are to get Tazuna home. I take it you are now helping us to protect him, Zabuza? If you are, I know Haku will."

"I shall protect him with my life," said Zabuza, startling Kakashi with the difference to the Zabuza he remembered.

"Good. I'll take first watch, then Shrrgnein, then Naruto, then Kakashi, then Zabuza," said Adam.

"Ahem," Kakashi coughed, "aren't we forgetting who's in charge here?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Adam with a smile and apologetic laugh, "But I set it up so that the four adults, who need the least sleep, and the one boy who has enough stamina, will stay up, leaving the rest to conserve their energy."

"I see," said Kakashi, "It is a good plan."

_ If you wish _ said Shrrgnein, _ I could stay up so the fox-child can get some sleep _

"No," said Naruto, "I can do it. Thanks anyway, wolf-god."

_ Shrrgnein, don't get angry _ said Adam with his mind to Shrrgnein.

_ I wasn't _ Shrrgnein answered with a spark of amusement, _ I was admiring his courage _

The next day Naruto, Kakashi and the others rose a few hours after dawn to the sound of a crackling fire and the smell of cooking meat. As they looked over, they saw Adam sitting next to a fire, keeping tabs on a spit with rabbits on it, and talking quietly with Zabuza.

As they walked over Adam turned around and smiled at them, "Hey guys, sleep well?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine," said Kakashi, answering for all of them, "When did you wake up?"

"About nine o'clock yesterday morning," Adam answered with a smile, "Shrrgnein left at about 2 this morning, saying he needed to look after his pack. Want some breakfast? I also got some orange juice from the trees around here and some little extras for a salad."

"Wow…" said Naruto, his mind going straight to his stomach.

"Yeah," said Adam, "I got enough for everybody, so pick what you want and leave what you don't. If you want something else, I got some other stuff in my bag."

"Such as…?" asked Sakura, looking at the small backpack.

"Just some dry cereal and milk. You're a vegetarian, hey? That's why I packed it. Here, catch."

He tossed a small packet of cornflakes and a small container of milk over. He dug around a bit more and found a wooden bowl and spoon. He passed those over to.

"Thanks, Adam," said Sakura, tearing open the packet and emptying it into the bowl.

"No worries," said Adam with a smile. He then looked at Kakashi, "I went through your maps last night. At the rate we're travelling, we should get to Tazuna's town by about noon. I've been thinking though…"

"Always a serious problem…" said Zabuza quietly from across the fire, lifting the bandages he wore around his mouth to eat.

"Protecting Tazuna from thugs and bandits would be easy, right? A simple C-Rank mission, yeah? Aren't the Oni brothers and Zabuza Ninja? Chunin and Jonin level, respectively. Wouldn't that make it at least a B? I think he's got some explaining to do."

"I've thought about that too…" said Kakashi, looking over at Tazuna, "Well, Tazuna? What do you have to tell us? Lying isn't a good idea, especially to the people who are assigned to protect you."

"Our land is very poor," Tazuna began, "even our lords are poor, and I have no money at all, so we had to say it was a C-Rank, otherwise we never would have been able to get it at all. I apologize for lying, but it's the only way I could have survived."

"I see…" said Kakashi, looking at Adam, "Well, we'll have to figure out payment later. Right now, we need to get moving. C'mon."

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, until about half past twelve, they arrived at Tazuna's house.

"No offence, Zabuza," began Adam, "But it think it would be better if you two went into hiding, you know, because of the Hidden Mist Demon reputation. Oh, I almost forgot, here's your other half a million yen for protecting Tazuna. Goodbye."

"I understand," said Zabuza, "I owe you my life, Adam. If you are in need of aid, call on me, and I shall help in any way I can." When he finished, he leapt away into the trees, Haku close behind.

"I bet you never expected to hear that, Kakashi," said Adam with a smile, knocking on Tazuna's front door.

The door opened and a woman face appeared there, "W—who's there?" she asked in a quavering voice.

"It is the Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, who come with Tazuna," said Kakashi, taking the lead.

"Oh, thank god!" exclaimed the woman, flinging the door open and rushing into Tazuna's arms.

"This is Tsunami, my daughter," he said awkwardly, gently turning her around and leading her back inside.

"I never would have guessed," mumbled Adam, following him inside.

"No," Kakashi whispered, "You would have already known."

They were all sitting in the dining room, Tsunami asking questions about their journey, and Kakashi answering, with little inputs from the others. Just then, the door opened and a little boy, who couldn't have been more than six, appeared. "Welcome home, grandpa," he said, walking over to Tazuna.

"This is Inari, my grandson," said Tazuna, "Inari, these are the Ninja that brought me home safely."

"Yeah, I'm glad you're home grandpa, but these Ninja…they're all gonna die! No one can beat Gatô and his men"

"You brat!" yelled Naruto, "We just—"

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura, grabbing the back of his shirt, "Calm down!! He's just a kid!"

"Right," said Naruto, composing himself slightly, "Listen kid; I'm a superhero who'll someday become the most extreme Ninja. My name will be Hokage, the Fire Shadow!"

"Yeah right," said Inari, "There's no such thing as heroes."

"Inari, that's not true," said Adam calmly, "There are many heroes in this world. What about the Fourth Hokage, who saved this land from the Nine-Tailed Fox? Wouldn't he be called a hero?"

"Yeah, I suppose…" began Inari, "But that's different, I mean, he was the best Ninja in the land."

"I suppose," accepted Adam, "But he had to work to get there. He would have started out just as Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and I have. He was not only the strongest, fastest and bravest, but he was the smartest. It takes a great mind to rule a village, and the Fourth Hokage had one of the best. All we need to do is think about how we could defeat Gatô. Everybody has a weak point. Unfortunately, so do the Hokages."

"Gatô doesn't," said Inari.

"Do you know this for certain? How do you know he isn't just all talk and show? Have you ever seen him on the front line with his men? No, of course not. He prefers to sit it the shadows, hoping not to get noticed, and when the battle is over, he walks out and takes the winnings. All we have to do is get him alone, and we can either break his mind or body. Or both, I suppose…"

"But how would you be able to get him alone?" asked Inari.

"Ah, that's what I mean. We have to _think_ about what we're doing, how we're doing it, and what the possible outcome will be," said Adam.

"Uh, Adam," said Kakashi, "I don't know how to tell you this, but our mission is over. We got Tazuna home, so we can go home now."

"C'mon sensei," said Adam, "surely if we get rid of Gatô now, it would mean less trouble for us in the future."

"I suppose…" said Kakashi, "but what Inari said was right. How are we going to get Gatô on his own?"

"Leave that to me," said Adam with a smile, "Remember, I'm the guy with an I.Q of over 350. I'll have something within the hour."

"Wait," said Sasuke, "An I.Q of what?"

"Over 350, or so the scientist who made me said," answered Adam, with a slight nod of the head at Tazuna and Inari and then a slight shake of the head.

"Ok…" said Kakashi, gliding over the fact that the highest possible _human_ I.Q was 210, "If we're going to stay here for a little while longer, we might as well get some training in."

"Training?" moaned Sakura, "Damn you Adam, we could have gone home."

"Oh, boo-hoo Sakura, you have to increase you Ninja skills. What a shame. If I hadn't befriended Zabuza, you guys might be dead. You three need to train."

"What about you?" asked Naruto.

"You all know what I am. I could outdo you ten times over," said Adam

"_Any_way," said Kakashi, going to the door and opening it, "Let's go. Follow me."

They walked for about half an hour until they reached the forest near the west of the island. "Now," said Kakashi, "You will learn how to control your chakra. I assume you all know what chakra is?"

"Yeah," answered Sasuke and Sakura.

"Uh…" answered Naruto, "I've heard of that somewhere before…haven't I?"

"Naruto, I swear to god, you must be the dumbest person alive. Listen closely because I'm only going to say this once. Chakra is the energy that exists in all living beings, a _life energy_ if you will. There are two types of chakra; one is from the body, drawn from each and every one of the approximately thirteen trillion cells of the human body. The other type comes from the mind, acquired by pushing your mind to its limits. These two energies, combined with making hand signs to control the chakra, release the power and give the desired effect."

"That's correct," said Kakashi, surprised she knew in such detail, "Master Iruka taught you well."

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the talking already," said Naruto, impatient as always, "Tell me what to do and my body can do it!"

"Naruto's right, for once in his miserable life," said Sasuke, "we already use chakra and the Ninja arts."

"That may be so, Sasuke, but you're not using them effectively," said Kakashi.

"Well, how do we use it effectively then?" asked Naruto.

"There are five different styles of chakra," said Kakashi, "There is: Fire style, Water Style, Earth style, Wind style and Lightning style. So far, you've been guessing at the combinations, and the ratios of the combinations."

"So how do we learn this stuff?" asked Naruto.

"The old fashioned way?" said Kakashi, "By climbing trees!"

"Climbing trees?" asked Naruto incredulously, "What a waste of time!"

"Yeah Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura, "How will this help?"

"Well," said Kakashi, "There's a catch. Isn't there always? You three aren't allowed to use your hands."

"What?! Then how are we meant to get up?" asked Naruto.

"Focus your chakra to the soles of your feet and then use the power to cling to the tree. By the end, you should have better control over your chakra. I'm making you climb trees because the hardest place in the body to send and control chakra is the soles of your feet. By the end, you should be able to do _this_."

As he finished, he started walking towards the tree. As his feet came in contact with the trunk, a faint glow suffused his feet for a second, then his feet stuck to the tree and he started walking _up_wards. When he reached a branch about ten meters up, he walked out on the branch, still upside down, and said, "See? It takes a lot of control to stay up here not fall. In the midst of a battle, it's even harder to maintain focus, but for now, this will do. "

He drew out three kunai knives and threw them at the ground in front of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. "Score how high you can get on the tree by using your feet only. You should, in theory, begin to improve."

So they picked up the knives, focused as best as they could and ran at a tree. As soon as Naruto's foot was on the trunk, he slipped backwards and smashed his head on the ground. Sasuke got about two meters up when he lost control of his chakra and planted a foot too hard into the trunk causing it to splinter, and forcing to back-flip to the ground. _This is harder than I thought,_ he thought, _not enough chakra, and you don't adhere to the tree, like Naruto. Too much chakra and you splinter the wood, and your own force repels you. But what about…_

"Hey guys, this is fun!"

High up in a tree, on the same level as Kakashi, sat Sakura, her kunai sticking out of the tree to her right.

"It seems the _female_ of the group has the best chakra control. Naruto, so much for being Hokage one day. And Sasuke, the Uchiha clan's prospects don't look to good do they?"

"Kakashi, how could you!" yelled Sakura, _Great, now Sasuke hates me._

_Those two boys have far more chakra than Sakura, the way the ocean has more water than a pond_, Kakashi thought, _by the end of this training, we should be able to _unlock_ those reserves of chakra._

As Sasuke fell for a fifth time, Adam walked over to him. "Hey, I know you want to do this your own way, and that's fine," said Adam, "But do you want some advice?"

"Yeah, sure," said Sasuke.

"You can't focus your chakra if you're distracted or tense, so relax, and stop trying so hard. Just wait until you feel the slight moment of perfectness, and seize it. Trust me, it sounds hard, and I know you're thinking, _Yeah, easy for him to say_, but it _is_ easy. Just _feel_ the moment."

"Ok, I'll try," said Sasuke.

"No," said Adam, "Don't try. Do."

So Sasuke stood still for about half a minute, feeling the natural flow of chakra within his body, moving with it, until his eyes snapped open, and he ran full pelt at the tree. As his feet came in contact with the trunk, the same kind of glow suffused his feet as they did Kakashi's. He ran up the tree, going far higher than his marks before. He got up to about five meters past the branch Kakashi was still standing upside down on. He scored the tree with his kunai and flipped back to the ground.

"See what I mean?" said Adam happily.

"Yeah," said Sasuke, slightly amazed with his sudden burst of progress, "Thanks."

"No worries. Now keep going until you get to the top. If you do in under a week, I'll show you something that will be…_beneficial_ to your Psyker training."

"How beneficial?" asked Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I eventually want you to take over as the Grandmaster of the Psykers Guild. I think you should know when I say _beneficial_, I mean that it will help pretty damn well."

"Oh, right," said Sasuke, still a little suspicious, but nevertheless summoning up his chakra again.

"Hey Adam!" yelled Naruto, "What were you talking to Sasuke about?"

"Hey Naruto!" Adam yelled back, "If I wanted you to know, I would've spoken louder!"

"Oo, Naruto, you just got told!" said Sakura, jumping down from branch to branch.

"Naruto," said Adam in a quieter voice, "Don't say this out loud, but your chakra far exceeds both the others, maybe even put together. You have the energy to do this. You have the motive to do this, to be the best Ninja or whatever. So do it. Focus. Don't try to outdo Sasuke. Just try as if Kakashi was teaching you separately."

"Ok, Adam," said Naruto, closing his eyes like Sasuke did and beginning to focus.

"Hey Adam," Kakashi called, "Can you come over here for a second?"

"Yeah sure," said Adam, running towards the tree, and sunk _into_ it.

"Whoa…" said Sakura, "Did you guys just see that?"

"Yeah," said Sasuke, "And I don't know what happened."

Just then, Adam appeared out of the tree standing next to Kakashi, upside down, his skin wooden for a second, then his form broke free of the tree and he returned to normal. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Ok…What did you say to Sasuke and Naruto? They're forgetting about their little rivalry and focusing," Kakashi asked, only mildly disturbed by what Adam just did.

"I told Sasuke that if he reached the top within a week I'd show his a weak Psyjutsu, and I told Naruto that he had more chakra than the other two combined, that he should forget trying to outdo Sasuke, and pretend you were tutoring him personally for this exercise."

"That—that's all?" asked Kakashi, dumbfounded that those few small words could do so much.

"Pretty much," said Adam, shrugging slightly, "I've got a plan to get Gatô, by the way."

"Already?" asked Kakashi, surprised, "It's only been a couple of hours."

"Yeah, but I spilt my consciousness, so one bit works on giving these guys a morale boost, another part works on the Gatô problem, and another bit works on all the other stuff, like chakra and Psyk control and dispersion, and all my other functions. All simultaneously. It gets pretty damn confusing sometimes."

"Fair enough," said Kakashi, "What's the plan?"

"Well," said Adam slowly, "Remember how Zabuza said he owes me his life and whatnot? I was thinking of calling in that favour. He was ordered to bring in Tazuna, yeah? And as far as Gatô knows, he hasn't switched sides yet. So he could walk back to Gatô with you or I disguised as Tazuna, and the other as Zabuza's huge sword. Haku would also be with him, I imagine, so you, me, Zabuza, and Haku would all be in the same room with Gatô, with only his two samurai bodyguards. We both know that a Jonin is worth about twenty samurai, since they can't use Ninjutsu, and they'll be two of them, a Jonin-rank Genin, and me, an S-Class Psyker."

"S-Class?" asked Kakashi, "What do you mean by that?"

"All Psykers were graded at attendance, standard intelligence test, strength test and stamina test. It went from F-Class, up to S-Class. F-Class were the ones that _just_ scraped by, and they were the ones that normally died first. S-Class stands for Secret Class. I was the only one to get it. I was given private tutoring in addition to the normal Psyker regime. The second last Psyker, Ïvorien, only managed B-Class. He's no match for me, and he knows it."

"Then how did he manage to kill you?" Kakashi asked.

"It was during training, and he was jealous that I was the only S-Class. He thought he deserved to be one as well. So, just to show off, he woke everyone else in the dorm but me, then forged a concrete knife from the wall and stabbed it into my neck. Luckily for me, I had already learned how to split my soul from my body. I quickly took over the body of an A-Class Psyker that was in the room, but left his looks how they were, so I didn't raise suspicion. Ïvorien thought I was dead, and so did everyone else. He immediately went up to the Psyker trainers and told them I had been murdered. I moulded the A-Class Psykers face to look like the one I have now, and stepped out from behind a pillar. He was chastised for telling lies and scaring the Council. He was punished even more when I let my face go back to the original bodies' and took the Council members to my dead body. I explained what I had done, what Ïvorien had done, and what I thought his intent was. He was expelled from the Psyker halls. He never finished his…_apprenticeship_. He somehow got back into working for the government, and they were happy to have him, since I had already left. Anyway, back to the Gatô problem. What do you think of the plan?"

"I think…it might just work," said Kakashi, smiling under his mask.

"We also need to think of something for Sasuke…" said Adam thoughtfully.

"What? Sasuke?! No way is he coming," said Kakashi, "He's too young to take out a warlord of Gatô's stature."

"If you will not allow him to come as a Ninja, I will allow him to come as a Psyker. My training was harsher than his, and I was doing assassinations at half his age," retorted Adam.

"You were also trained as a Psyker…" started Kakashi.

"Yo, Adam!" yelled Sasuke, "Is this good enough?"

Sasuke was standing at the very tip of the tree, his balance perfect, even though the tree was swaying in the breeze.

"Holy Jesus, he's up there already?" whispered Adam, more than a little surprised, "Yes, Sasuke, that's good enough, better than I had dared hoped, in fact. Now come down here so I can brief you on Protect the Bridge Builder: Part II."

"Adam, you can't tell him!" said Kakashi urgently as Adam swung himself back and forth, gaining enough momentum to swing 180 degrees to stand upright on the branch, feet still connected.

"If Sasuke's going to be part of it," Adam said, as Sasuke dropped into a crouch onto the branch next to him, "he has to know. It's suicide to go into battle unprepared. You of all people should know this."

"Sasuke is not coming and that's the end of it!" said Kakashi, furious that Adam would disobey him this much.

"Sasuke," said Adam mildly, ignoring Kakashi, "would you like to come and help take out Gatô in about, ooh, let's say four to five days?"

"Uh, didn't Kakashi just say no?" asked Sasuke hesitantly.

"Yeah, but that's you coming along as a Genin Ninja. I want you along as an A-Class Psyker."

"But I don't know any Psyjutsu," protested Sasuke, "How can I be counted as a Psyker?"

"What was my promise if you mastered climbing a tree in under a week?" asked Adam, feigning ignorance.

"You would teach me Psyjutsu," said Sasuke, ashamed at his lapse in memory.

"And you, my friend, have mastered it in a little under a day. That, I would have thought, would have been impossible, even from you."

"Your words helped me, Adam," admitted Sasuke.

"No, no, no," said Adam, "Since we are learning Psyjutsu, I expect you to call me either Master, Grandmaster, or, as you learned from Shrrgnein, Tovríen. Got it?"

"Yes, master Tovríen," said Sasuke bowing his head.

"Good," said Adam, "Now follow me away from these other guys, and we will officially start your training."

They leapt off the branch and darted into the woods, away from Kakashi. Naruto was too busy to notice, but Sakura looked on with worry,

_Oh Sasuke, what are you up to now?_

"Ok," began Adam, "Here's how this bit of training is going to work. You ask to be able to do anything you've seen me do so far, or any type of Ninjutsu you fancy, and I'll teach it to you with the best of my abilities."

"Do you have any suggestions, Grandmaster?" asked Sasuke, slightly astounded that _he_ got to choose what he wished to learn.

"Well…that depends. Do you like killing enemies quickly, slowly, with or without pain, loudly, quietly, with illusions, or with raw might?" asked Adam in return, "I would suggest, as an overall, no-special-inclination type Jutsu, you try your hand at the Fire Clone Jutsu."

"Fire Clone?" asked Sasuke, "I have heard of Shadow and Water Clones, but never Fire."

"That's because no-one had ever thought of it, or if they had, they died trying to perform it."

"D—died?" asked Sasuke, "Why did they die?"

"Either they over-used their chakra and died of exhaustion, or they set themselves on fire by mistake. I have almost limitless chakra, so that rules out problem one, and I do not make mistakes, so that rules our problem two. You have a fair amount of chakra, but if you make more than two Fire Clones to begin with, you _will_ kill yourself. You've heard of soldier pills, right?"

"You mean the chewable pills that the military came up with? They can supposedly keep a soldier going for three days with nothing else."

"Well they don't lie," said Adam, "but if would keep me going for about three seconds before I had to take another one. You, on the other hand, will need to take one every fifteen minutes you keep the Clones going. The more Clones you add, the more pills you'll need to take, got it?"

"Yeah," said Sasuke, "So where do we start?"

"First, take one of the pills now," said Adam, pulling a small plastic canister out of his jacket pocket and popping the lid. He let a small brown pill roll onto his hand, and then threw the pill over to Sasuke, who caught it and ate it.

"Holy…" Sasuke gasped, as he dropped to his knees, hands going to his throat, "What the hell did you do to me?"

"_I _did nothing," said Adam calmly, walking over to sit on his heels next to Sasuke, "It's just that you're not meant to take these things when you're perfectly healthy. What you're feeling is your heart rate going at about…what, five hundred beats a minute? If I pick up a rock…" he picked one up from the ground, "…and dropped it, it would seem like it's falling in slow motion, am I right? That's because your heart is beating so much blood around your body, all your senses are receiving, maybe up to quadruple the amount they normally get, all oxygen- and nutrient-rich. Now," Adam's voice turned hard, "stop being a baby, get on your feet; stop disgracing the name of the Psykers, and start learning what you said you wanted to. You've got four days to master a technique you had never heard of before today, so if you want to learn how to _not_ kill yourself as you're performing it, start watching and copying."

"I _will not_ disgrace the name of the Psykers, Grandmaster," said Sasuke, getting to his feet, even though he was obviously still in considerable pain.

"No, you won't," said Adam, a slight hint of approval appearing in his voice, "Now, can you guess how a Fire Clone is different from its Shadow or Water counterparts?"

"It—it would explode into flames instead of smoke or water," answered Sasuke, drawing a great lungful of air and standing up straight, looking Adam straight in the eye.

"Exactly," said Adam, "Thus…"

He made the hand signs, _mi, inu, saru, uma, tori, i, uma, tora_, (literally, _snake, dog, monkey, horse, bird, boar, horse, tiger_) and two gouts of flame appeared next to him. Then two perfect copies of Adam walked out of the flames.

"Now," said Adam, nodding at the clones, one of whom formed the _tora_ hand sign, and transformed into Sasuke, the other forming the _tori_ hand sign and transformed into Naruto, "Imagine Naruto was real, and you were a Fire Clone. _This_ is what would happen."

The 'Naruto' clone punched the 'Sasuke' clone with a vicious left hook, snapping the 'Sasuke' clone's head backwards and the 'Sasuke' clone burst into flames from a massive explosion, incinerating the 'Naruto' clone, and it washed over a bubble of water Adam created at the last possible second. As the steam hissed away, there was nothing left of either clone, just a small crater where the 'Sasuke' clone had been.

"Furthermore," Adam continued, "the explosion from your own clones will never harm you, even if you are standing next to it when it goes off. As you saw, the hand signs were _mi, inu, saru, uma, tori, i, uma, tora_. Start practicing."

"O—ok," said Sasuke, "I'll—" he broke off as he remembered Adam's words, _don't try. Do._ He started forming the hand signs with expert precision and timing. He silently mouthed the names of the hand signs as he made them. As he made the last one, he focused all his chakra into that one hand sign.

_The Uchiha clan was renowned for its skill in Fire-style Justus_, Adam thought, _time to see if there's any truth to that_.

Four gouts of flame flared up, just as they did with Adam. Four Sasuke's stepped out of the flames. All were perfect Fire Clones. On his first try, having never heard of this Jutsu before today, Sasuke Uchiha made four Fire Clones. He swayed slightly, and then fell forward. Before Adam could move, one of the Fire Clones jumped forward and caught him. Adam then moved forward and got him off the clone. As soon as the clone had handed him over, they all exploded, bathing Adam in heat, setting his clothes and hair on fire. Sasuke was, of course, unaffected.

_Sasuke, you fool_, thought Adam, extinguishing the flames with his mind, _I _told_ you only to make two. But you made four. Not only that, you survived the experience. I don't know how much longer I can keep the secret, but I'll have to tell you someday_.

As he finished looking over Sasuke to check he wasn't seriously injured, he picked him up, and jumped towards Tazuna's house.

He landed outside the house about five minutes after he left the forest. He knocked on the door, and stood back, waiting for Tsunami to open the door slightly, and then announced his name. As she opened the door, she gasped, "Adam, what happened to Sasuke?"

"Just a little training accident, nothing big, I assure you."

"Ok, well then, please come in, Kakashi and the others got back a little while ago."

"I would've expected," answered Adam, "What time is it? About six?"

"Yes, that's about right," said Tsunami absently as she led the way to the dining room where they all were sitting. As soon as he entered with Sasuke slung over his shoulder, Sakura gasped, "Adam, what happened to Sasuke! Is he…"

"He's not dead," answered Adam gently, "He merely outdid himself in training. Exhausted himself, I'm guessing."

"Oh, thank god," said Sakura quietly, although Adam's enhanced hearing picked it up.

"Kakashi, could you come over hear for a second please?" Adam asked, indicating the lounge room.

"Yeah, sure," said Kakashi, wondering what this could be about.

"Ok…you know Sasuke is part of the Uchiha clan, yeah?" asked Adam when they were alone.

"Of course, everyone does," said Kakashi, unsure of the direction this conversation was going.

"They are the supposed masters of Fire-style Jutsu, right?" asked Adam.

"Well, that's what everyone said," answered Kakashi.

"Well they weren't wrong," said Adam with a sigh.

"How so?" asked Kakashi, finally getting some idea what this was about.

"I taught him how to make fire clones," said Adam, looking at Sasuke, who Adam had brought in with them and set down on the floor leaning against the wall, "I said should he make more than two, he would undoubtedly die, even after I gave a soldier pill to him."

"Wait, you gave a soldier pill to a _healthy_ person?! Are you insane?!" asked Kakashi.

"He needed it, trust me," said Adam, "Anyway, with his heart rate in the five hundred beat mark, he made not only two clones, but four, and managed to hold them when he fell unconscious."

"What? How?" asked Kakashi, surprised.

"How should I know?" asked Adam with a shrug, "All I know is when the four clones appeared he fell forward, his chakra spent. Before I had time to catch him, one of the clones already had him. When I took Sasuke from them, the chakra was severed and they exploded."

"Wow…" said Kakashi, thinking about what Adam had said.

"Now, Kakashi," Adam said, "I have a favour to ask of you. A big one."

"What is it?" asked Kakashi, his curiosity aroused.

"Sasuke is not the last Uchiha," Adam said.

"I know," said Kakashi, "He has a brother called Itachi."

"He has not one brother, but two."

"Two? Who is his other brother?"

"Me."


	8. Chapter 8

"You?!" asked Kakashi incredulously, "But, there's no way!"

"There is. Sasuke and I have the same mother and father. Sasuke and Itachi have the same mother. They are half-brothers. Itachi is the eldest, then me, then Sasuke. Sasuke is my little brother."

"There's no way!" repeated Kakashi, "How did you end up overseas?!"

"Orochimaru, I assume you know who he is, had heard a prophecy that the second child born to my mother would rise and kill him. He wanted to prevent this, but could not bring himself to kill my mother, since he was young then. He sent me away with a Teleportation Jutsu. He didn't care where, he just sent me away. It will probably be this that will kill him."

"How so?" asked Kakashi, still not quite believing him.

"If he did not send me away, or if he had killed me, I would never have become a Psyker, would never have grown strong enough to kill him. So, in a way, he brought the prophecy to completion."

"That doesn't prove that you're his brother!" protested Kakashi.

"Perhaps not," answered Adam, "but all the same, I beg you to keep this secret. I had to share it, and Sasuke is too young to understand. I will prove to you one day. In fact, four days from now, you will see."

"Ok," said Kakashi slowly, "I will hold you to that, and I will keep your secret. Is that all?"

"It is; thank you for listening."

After four days of training for all three Genin, Kakashi deemed them ready. He explained the plan to them, making Sakura relieved and Naruto enraged that they had to stay behind. It made Naruto even angrier when he heard Sasuke got to go along.

"What's so special about him anyway? He's so damn cocky!" he yelled

"Well, for one," said Adam, appearing in the doorway, "he doesn't yell and scream when he doesn't get his way. That alone makes him a winner over you. I know it's hard growing up alone, but that doesn't mean you get everything you want, when you want it. So shut up, sit down, and if you're lucky, and if Sakura isn't, Sasuke might be killed."

"This is too dangerous," Sakura protested, "Sasuke, please reconsider! You heard Adam, you could die!"

"If I die for the Psyker Guild, I die with honour," said Sasuke, glancing at Adam, who nodded appreciatively, if somewhat surprised.

"Adam!" yelled Sakura, turning on him, "Why did you fill Sasuke head with this? How did you make him believe it?"

"I told him of the Adaptus Psykarus, of its tenets, and he agreed to them. He signed with blood. He cannot go back now. If he declined, I would have rejected him, and maybe taken on Naruto or Kakashi."

"So if he said no to your rules, you would have just tossed him aside?" she asked with rising anger.

"Well…if you want to look it from that angle…then yes, I would have. A Psyker who does not respect the Guild and bring honour to it does not deserve to be called a Psyker. In times past, when we heard of a Psyker turning against us, we killed him and removed his powers, distributing it among the other Psykers. You are lucky Sasuke accepted," answered Adam, not caring that Sakura was walking towards him. As she reached for him, Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't touch my Grandmaster," he said coldly.

Sakura gasped, and looked into his eyes. She saw he was totally in control, that he was doing this of his own free will.

"Damn you Adam," she whispered, pulling her hand back, "Damn you for turning Sasuke against me,"

"Don't kid yourself, Sakura," said Adam, his voice as cold as Sasuke's eyes, "Sasuke was never with you. He saw you and Naruto as interruptions only. Nothing more. Are we ready to leave Kakashi?"

"We are, Adam," said Kakashi, "and I'm going to tell you once. Don't. Hurt. Sakura. Again. Physically _or_ emotionally. This goes for you to Sasuke. You may be Psykers, but you are also Ninja, under my command, so you obey _me_ on this mission, got it?"

"No, Kakashi, I don't," answered Adam, his eyes flashing dangerously, "On an A-Ranked mission like this; I cannot be held in place by petty Ninja laws. On a C-Ranked mission, I'm happy to follow your lead. On this, I cannot. That is why Sasuke is still calling me Grandmaster even though the training period is over. We are, for this mission, helping you, Zabuza and Haku. If we wish, we may withdraw from battle at any time without reason. Think of us as a psychic ANBU Black Ops. Now, to move off this topic, we are meeting Zabuza near the edge of the forest, and then moving over water to Gatô's offshore mansion."

"I see," said Kakashi, getting to his feet and brushing the dust from his pants, "Let's kill this bastard."

"Hang on," said Adam, "I need to do something."

He formed the _ushi_ hand sign and said "Psyker garb, stealth style!"

He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, the others gasped. Adam stood, but not it the loose, cotton clothes he normally wore, but a tight-fitting, black and grey mottled garb, a long katana strapped to his back and a short _wakizashi_ strapped to his left hip. On his left and right thighs he had two customised shuriken and kunai holsters, respectively. On his face, he wore a black mask that obscured his mouth and nose, like Kakashi's did. He had a wide belt, black with gold trim, and on the belt were numerous satchels, containing many tools of the Psyker trade, such as: knockout herbs and capsules, papers which had explosive and acidic words written on it, gauntlets, poison vials as well as a small, silenced, P699 semi-automatic pistol, with which he deftly ejected the magazine, blew the dust out of it, the slammed it back home, and racked the slide. As he held up his left hand, the others managed to get their first good look at it. It was missing his left ring finger, and he showed why, as he clenched his left hand into a fist, a foot-long punch dagger sprung out.

"For close in combat, too close for the swords," he explained, "It's also quite good for assassinations."

"We want this to go as smoothly as possible," Kakashi said, "Naruto, Sakura, be good and play nice. Adam, Sasuke, let's go."

It was about eight o'clock when Zabuza and Haku materialized from the forest.

"It's nice to see you honoured our agreement, Zabuza," said Adam, extending a hand towards him.

"You thought I wouldn't? You obviously don't know me well enough," Zabuza said in his gravelly voice, grasping Adam's hand and shook once or twice.

"You remember the plan?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," said Zabuza, "What sort of assassin would I be if I couldn't remember a plan? We run on water to Gatô's estate, with the Uchiha kid transformed into my sword, since he's the only one who can't walk on water. Am I right?"

"You are," said Adam, "We will regroup on the roof. Neutralize any resistance, but do it quietly, no huge sword swings, Zabuza, since it _will_ be human. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Zabuza, psyching himself for the task ahead, "Let's go already."

"Let's," said Adam, turning towards Sasuke, "Sasuke, you know what to do."

"Yes, Grandmaster," Sasuke said, forming the _uma_ hand sign, and with a puff of smoke, transformed into a sword, an exact replica of Zabuza's. Zabuza picked up the Sasuke-sword and strapped it on his back.

"Let's get going," he said, already running towards the water.

Adam and the others followed a second later and ten seconds later, they were out of sight.

Back at Tazuna's house, Naruto was pacing back and forth; irritated that he couldn't go along. Sakura was on the ground, knees tucked up into her chest, and she couldn't get Sasuke eyes out of her mind; those cold eyes, devoid of love, of any kind. _Don't touch my Grandmaster_. That's what he had said. Right then, she vowed to get Sasuke free from Adam, and begin to open up to other people. Naruto was also thinking about Sasuke, _why aren't I good enough to become a Psyker? He even said I had more chakra than the others! I'm better suited than either of them_, he thought.

Adam pulled the P699 from its holster and sighted down the iron sights, lining up the centre green dot with his targets head. There was a slight _pfut_ and he went down, a 9 millimetre hole in the back of his head. Adam slipped forward, backing up against the wall and peeking around the corner. So far he had been undetected, and he curved around the corner, his black Psyker garb close to skin-tight, as not to leave flowing shadows. He holstered the pistol and curled his left hand into a fist, revealing the punch dagger, stabbing it through a rice paper door and into the neck and windpipe of the person beyond. For the first time tonight, he made a mistake. There were at least five people in the room, and all of them saw the dagger spurting through their companions' neck. Four of them kicked through the paper door and into the night air, while one of them went to raise the alarm. Adam somersaulted backwards, flipping two shuriken at the fleeing man as he did so. As the man went down, he drew his two swords, and, in a flurry of blows, disarmed and killed three of the four guards. As they sunk to the ground, blood spurting from their many wounds, the one remaining guard turned to run, and he did…

…right into Adam. The guard slammed into his chest, but he barely had time to think before he felt an iron grip around his throat, and he was lifted into the air. He was choked until he thought he would die, but just as he slipped into unconsciousness, he felt the grip loosen slightly. For some reason, this scared him more than death did. That was his last thought before blacking out.

When he came to, he couldn't see and his arms and legs were bound. Was he blind, or was he dead? He heard a deep chuckle in his ear.

"No, you're not dead," said the voice, "but unless you tell me what I want to know, you soon will be."

"I—If I tell you, will you let me go?" the guard asked, scared by the man.

"I don't think you understand the position you're in right now," the voice said, "Here, let me show you…"

As he said it, he removed his hand from the guard's eyes, and all the guard could see was the earth. He tried to get his bearings, and then it suddenly snapped. He looked up and saw the man who had killed his friends earlier, then looked past him and saw he was stuck to a wall. It was the wall of Gatô's main keep tower. Thirty feet high, it towered above everything else in the Land of Waves. The man screamed as he realised that if this madman should release his grip fractionally for even a second, he would die.

_Well_, thought Adam, _it was hard work lugging one hundred kilos of fat guard up here, but I swear the scream alone makes it all worthwhile_. "Now," he said, "you gonna play ball?"

"Ok—ok!" the man yelled, "Just please don't drop me!"

"I won't," promised Adam "just tell me when Gatô is now."

"He—he would be in his private room," stuttered the guard, "N-northeast r-room. I s-swear that's all I k-know!"

"Good," said Adam, "But now, unfortunately, you have outlived your usefulness. Goodbye."

"Wait, what!!? NO!!" the man yelled, but it was too late; Adam had already let go, and the guard was already plummeting earthward.

Adam flipped back up to the top of the keep. "Northeast room," he said, "Probably two entrances, one from the south, one from the west. Kakashi, you take south. Zabuza, Haku, you take west. He knows we're coming by now. We've lost the element of surprise."

"What about you two?" asked Zabuza, pointing at Adam and Sasuke.

"Us?" Adam asked with a grin, "We're taking the top. Wait outside the doors, _do not move inside_. Radio us when you're in place. Now move out."

Kakashi had (reluctantly) given command of the mission to Adam, when he made the point that since he was older than Zabuza and Kakashi combined, he had more experience in dealing with these sorts of situations than them.

"Grandmaster?" Sasuke asked tentatively, "What do you mean when you said, 'we're taking the top'?"

"I meant exactly what I said, Sasuke," Adam said, stepping up to the parapet of the keep, "when the others radio in, we will jump off here. Put all of your chakra to your feet, and force it into making you drop slower, like we practiced in the forest, got it? Remember that if you fall, I'm not compromising the mission to save you."

"It's ok, Grandmaster," said Sasuke with a smile, "I won't fall."

"Good," said Adam.

"_We're at the west entrance, over,"_ said Zabuza in Adam's and Sasuke's ears.

"_I'm a south, over,"_ said Kakashi.

"Nice work," said Adam into his mouthpiece, "Remember, we want this bastard alive. We're giving him a public execution. Three…two…one…GO!!"

In unison all five men went into action, Haku and Zabuza kicking open then west door, Kakashi, blowing open the south one, and Adam and Sasuke jumping from the keep.

As one, they captured Gatô, who was surprised and scared that they had managed to get so far. The two samurai protecting Gatô were quickly cut down by Zabuza, with two strokes from his sword.

"Now, Gatô," Adam said, his voice silky smooth, "you will come with us. You will have a public execution. You will be broken; and your vile trade _will_ be destroyed. You can walk like a man to your death, or like a girl, pick one."

"But I have something you don't!" said Gatô, his eyes gleaming as he revealed his masterstroke.

"Oh, and what might that be?" asked Adam, unconcerned.

"I have Tazuna's daughter," Gatô replied, pointing at a wall, which slid open to reveal Tsunami being held and knifepoint. "You really should leave guards at home when you go out training," he mocked them.

"But, Gatô," Adam said, "I did,"

"What? What do you mean?" asked Gatô, saying what everyone else was thinking.

"As we left here, I thought you might try something along the lines of this, whether it was Inari, Tazuna or Tsunami, I didn't know. So, as we met at the edge of the forest, I sent a psychic hail to a certain someone. Well, two people anyway. I don't know if the second arrived yet."

"Who was it?" asked Gatô, "But it doesn't matter, I still have Tsunami!"

"Really?" said Adam, "I can't see her."

As Gatô turned to look at the wall, Adam kept talking, "All I see is Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. Can anyone else see them?"

It was so. Tsunami and her captor had been replaced with Naruto and Sakura, both with weapons drawn.

"So, back to the matter at hand, Gatô," Adam said, "How are you going to die, man or woman?"

"I won't die," said Gatô, "Because I think three steps ahead."

"Before you do what I know you're thinking," said Adam, "I stole your gas mask and destroyed all the gas canisters in the walls of this room. So don't try it. Even if you manage to get some reserve nerve gas up here before we leave, it won't matter. I can hold my breath for about an hour, and there's no way in hell I'm going to let my comrades die while still I draw breath."

Gatô was shocked. How had this kid known about the nerve gas in the walls?

"Because I can read your mind, Gatô, and see your soul."

Gatô turned his head back to the boy, but it was no longer a boy. In his place stood a daemon with glowing black eyes and blood red hair. It stood about two metres tall; his cloak made of skulls, which Gatô instinctively knew was made of opponents he had killed in battle. Two ivory horns came from his brow, curving up and back over his head. He wore nothing but some baggy trousers, patched and frayed in places and his cloak, but his chest and arms rippled with perfectly defined and exaggerated muscles.

"_Dost thou desire thine judgement this night, Gatô?" _said the daemon, the others looking at it in horror, it seemed they had never seen this apparition before either, _"For years, you have burned and killed and raped. It ends tonight. The fool of a mortal that is my host is no more and the Night Angel has come to pass judgement."_

"Adam?" asked Sasuke, "Grandmaster?"

"_Silence, mortal!"_ bellowed the Night Angel, _"I did not speak to you, so you stay silent! Gatô, you will die. But not here, no, here is too private for one such as you to die. We will kill you the same way you killed Kaiza. Inari shall have his revenge."_

"You—you cannot take me!" yelled Gatô fearfully, "this cannot be happening!"

"_You shall die, Gatô,"_ the Angel repeated, _"These innocents shall have their world free of your tyranny. You cannot stay me with words or men, for I am Retribution, Judgement, Vengeance, the Angel of Death, and many more. I _am_ DEATH!"_

With a roar, the Night Angel lifter his hands to the heavens, and all of them were teleported to a bloodstained post, surrounded by a barbed wire fence.

"_Do you recognise this place, O mortal?"_ asked the Night Angel, _"This is where you stole a boy's innocence, his life…his soul. You shall pay, Gatô, at seven o'clock tomorrow morning, the village shall be here, to see you overthrown, and to see their land returned to them. Seven o'clock, Gatô. Be ready."_

With that, the Night Angel and all the others disappeared, leaving Gatô alone with his own demons, dreading the next day.


	9. Chapter 9

"Whew," said Adam, when they were back at Tazuna's house.

"Adam, that scared the hell out of me," said Kakashi.

"Good," said Adam, "because if it scared you, it sure as hell scared him."

"So who's going to do the execution?" asked Sakura.

"I dunno," said Adam, "I'll do it if no one else will, but if there's someone better, they can do it."

"I will," Naruto said.

"Sorry," said Adam, "I meant, if there's someone _better_, not someone who wants to show off. I should have made myself clearer."

"Arrgh!" yelled Naruto, "I'm sick of you and your better-than-you attitude!"

"I say it as I see it," Adam said, "I see you as a kid you grew up lonely, yes, but also annoying because you're used to getting your own way, since you had nobody to answered to. So, I have two words of advice for you. Grow. Up."

"But why did Sasuke become a Psyker when you said I'm better suited?!" asked Naruto.

"Ah, so this is a _jealousy_ argument. You want to talk about jealous? Ok, I'll tell you," said Adam, his voice getting quieter, but also infinitely sharper, "I am jealous of everyone in this room right now, because they never had to kill their friends, or watch them get tortured, knowing that if you even breathed, you would be seen and their sacrifice would have been for nothing. I am jealous of everyone in this room right now, because they have never felt the fear that one moment you might be blind, or deaf, of anything, because someone made one tiny mistake in their measurements. I am jealous of everyone in this room right now, because their life has been a million, million times better in one day than mine had been my entire life. Do you want me to continue? I got heaps more."

"And you say _I_ whine a lot," said Naruto.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Adam sarcastically, "I didn't know you were so full of caring and compassion. I should have guessed that that one quality makes you stand head and shoulders above everyone else. I picked Sasuke because he has one thing you _never_ will, even if you were an S-Class Psyker like me. Hell, even Sakura would be better suited than you."

"And what is that?" Naruto asked, looking Adam in the eye.

"Compassion."

"What! What do you mean?"

"I mean that Sasuke's love for people, although I know he sure as hell doesn't show it, is what set him apart. You Sakura, and pretty much every other girl, like him for his looks, and the way he's '_soooo cool'_. Sasuke would protect each and every person in this room, no matter if it cost him his life. Could you, Naruto, do the same?"

"Of course!" said Naruto, hearing a slight challenge.

"Let's see, shall we?" said Adam, getting to his feet. With a puff of smoke, he appeared behind Sakura and grabbed her around the throat, hid other hand getting a kunai and pointing it at her neck. As soon as he saw Adam move, Sasuke was up and moving. As soon as the steel of the kunai touched Sakura's throat, Sasuke had leapt at Adam, trying to tackle him off her. Adam quickly spun to his left and flung the kunai at Sasuke, catching him in the chest, and throwing him back a good five feet.

"Sasuke!!" Sakura yelled, tears in her eyes.

"See what I mean?" asked Adam, releasing Sakura, who had fainted, and walking to Sasuke's side, who was wheezing from a punctured lung and coughing up blood, "Sasuke acted without conscious thought, trying to protect a teammate from a hostile target. You, however, did not act at all, and I doubt you would have."

He removed the kunai from Sasuke, who wheezed, "Grandmaster, why are you saving me? I failed. I didn't save her. In real life, she would be dead."

"No, Sasuke, you passed," said Adam gently, healing the puncture in Sasuke's lung, "In real life, you would not be fighting a Psyker, who could read thoughts and had a reaction time of within point zero one of a second. You did the right thing, and against another Shinobi, you would have saved her. Now rest, and let the healing work."

"Yes, Grandmaster," Sasuke sighed, slipping into a contented sleep.

"You inspire loyalty in Sasuke that I have never seen," said Kakashi, "He would die for you!"

"He would die for you as well, Kakashi-sensei," said Adam, for once adding the honourable suffix, "He would also die for Naruto, if needed. _That_ is why I accepted him. A Psyker _must_ be able to feel compassion. He needs to know who to kill, who to spare, and who to save."

He then took the kunai and opened Sasuke's shirt.

"What are you doing?" asked Kakashi.

"You'll see," said Adam, removing Sasuke's undershirt. He then got the kunai and carved this shape 済 into Sasuke's chest, just above the heart.

"Adam! Tell me what you're doing!" yelled Kakashi, shocked at what Adam was doing.

Adam remained silent. He then cut open his palm and pushed it into the mark. As their blood mingled, a blue light suffused the room. When it disappeared, Kakashi leaned forward to see. The skin had healed over, but the scar of the sign was midnight black.

"When a Psyker did something out of the ordinary," Adam explained, "he got a sign carved into him, describing what he had done. Normally it was performed by the Guild apothecaries, but since we don't have any of them…"

"So what does that sign mean?" asked Kakashi.

"This? It stands for 'Honour'. An apt sign I thought. Don't you agree?"

"I do," agreed Kakashi, "do you have any?"

"I have 'Honour', 'Sacrifice', 'Loyalty', 'Walking' and 'Death' together, and 'Safe'.

"How did you get—" Kakashi began, but he was interrupted by a snore. They both looked around and saw Naruto asleep on the floor. "—them?" Kakashi finished.

"Honour I got for throwing myself in front of a bullet that was going to hit an injured squad mate, before I was made immortal, so it still could've killed me. Sacrifice was from staying behind in an enemies' base, timing some C-4, and giving my squad time to escape while I covered them. Loyalty every Psyker gets after one hundred years of service. Walking Death is a personal one; I received it after I was given wounds that would have killed a human, and then managed to slay fifty opponents while escaping an underground cavern. Safe every Psyker gets after he successfully heals a person from death."

"Is that all?" Kakashi asked, surprised.

"No, overall I have at least a score of honour scars," said Adam, "but those were the only ones worth mentioning. Oh, I also have another personal one called 'Deaths Head'. I got it from performing my first public execution. It was, you might have guessed, a decapitation."

"Who was it?" Kakashi asked.

"The man I killed? He was a person who trafficked in weapons and drugs. Similar to Gatô, as it turns out…He had enough explosives to destroy a decent sized city. I publicly executed him in front of his lieutenants. I then got his head, skinned it, and gave the skull to them as a warning to disband. They got the message."

"You Psykers aren't ones for diplomacy, are you?" asked Kakashi with a smile.

"Wrong. We actually personally accompanied the prime minister of Australia and other people of importance on many visits to hostile and non hostile locations. Funnily enough, no one ever attacked us. Except for the first time; we were over in a place called America, a very big country. An assassin tried to shoot the prime minister. I was the Psyker assigned to his protection. I caught the bullet and threw it back the way it came. It hit the assassin in the head and killed him, flying out the other side. I then caught him, revived him, and left him for the 'normal' guards to interrogate him. Our input was always welcome in most discussion, since almost everyone knew of our way of knowing things we shouldn't."

"I see," said Kakashi, "I bet that got you into a bit of trouble."

"Every now and then," Adam smiled, "But for now, I'm going to sleep."

"Ok," said Kakashi, "Goodnight. And well done tonight."

At seven o'clock the next morning, just as the Night Angel had said, almost everyone from the village was stunned to see Gatô in his own pen, crouched in the corner, avoiding eye contact with everyone. With a puff of smoke, Adam appeared next to him.

"People of Nami no Kuni!" he proclaimed, "Last night, some Ninja and I went into Gatô's offshore estate and captured the coward. We brought him here for you, the villagers, to pass judgement. Now, people of this land, what should his punishment be?"

"DEATH!!" was the resounding roar from everyone. Down the front of the crowd, Inari was there, watching his fathers' death about to be avenged.

"So be it!" Adam yelled, and strapped Gatô's wrists to the post with rope, and bound his legs in a similar manner. "Gatô," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "what do you have to say before you die?"

"I say that Gatô will always be three steps ahead," Gatô said, and spat in Adam's face.

"Perhaps that was true once," said Adam, wiping the spit from his face, "but no more."

Adam picked up a kunai and held it up under Gatô's chin. Surprisingly, Gatô seemed undisturbed, scanning the sky for some sign.

"Oh, and Gatô," Adam whispered, "I took the liberty of destroying the helicopters and killed the pilots you organised to pick you up. I hope you don't mind."

Then Gatô's eyes turned fearful, as he heard his last exit door had closed, forever.

"Now, Gatô," Adam continued, "you die."

He shoved the kunai up through Gatô's chin and up through the roof of his mouth. This was no ordinary kunai, however. It was an assassination kunai, exclusive to ANBU Black Ops. It not only pierced the roof of Gatô's mouth, but went into the brain. As he withdrew the kunai, he heard a rumble behind him. As he turned, the rumble grew in volume, when it burst into all-out cheering.

"GATO!" Adam yelled, "IS GONE!!"

He let them continue cheering for a little longer, and then he held up his hands, and the crowd quietened, waiting to hear what this boy had to say, this boy who had saved them from an evil tyrant. "NOW JOIN ME!" he yelled out to them, "WE SHALL MARCH ON GATO'S MANSION!! TAKE WHAT YOU WISH, I SHALL NOT HINDER YOU!!!"

The cheering restarted, with a vengeance. Adam led the charge to the edge of the water.

"How are we going to get across?" demanded one of the villagers.

"Watch and see," answered Adam. "_Tori_," he whispered, "_inu, uma, tatsu, tora, saru, i_."

He then slapped his palms on the ground, and a second or two later, the ground started shaking.

"W—what's going on?" asked one of the villagers.

"I'm getting you to your vengeance," answered Adam, standing up.

As he stood, a giant land bridge came up with him. At its sight, the villagers cheered, and started running across the bridge towards the estate.

"Well done, Adam," said a voice from behind him.

"Thank you, Kakashi," said Adam, looking with contentedness at the sight of the mansion in flames. "Now, Zabuza, what will happen to you? Shrrgnein does not break his word easily, and he said he would know if you killed for fun."

"I will go into hiding until I can tame the killing rage," answered Zabuza from behind him, opposite from Kakashi, with such sincerity, Adam was stunned.

"A—are you serious?" he asked, barely managing to keep his voice level.

"Of course," answered Zabuza, also looking over the sea to the house.

"Then take this, Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist, and take heart that should you need assistance, Shrrgnein will come to your aid. But only once, so use it wisely."

So saying, he handed a small glass sphere to Zabuza, who pocketed it.

"To activate it," Adam continued, "hold it in your hand and squeeze. It will break like an egg and the glass will run over your arms. It will glow slightly silver, and you will hear a wolf howl thrice. By the third howl, Shrrgnein will be by your side."

"What have I done to deserve such kindness?" Zabuza asked.

"You have vowed to change, and this orb is insufficient reward, should you succeed," answered Adam.

"Thank you Adam, Psyker of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Just then, a sharp lance of pain shot through Adam's head. He dropped to his knee as he heard Hinata's voice, _"Adam, I feel Ïvorien, help me!"_ she cried inside his head.

_ You have the diamond ring on, no? _ asked Adam.

_Yes, I do _ answered Hinata, and even though it was in his head, he could feel her fear.

_Put on the ruby ring, now! _ ordered Adam.

_ But then you won't be able to help! _ protested Hinata.

_ I'm already in and helping _ said Adam urgently _Now do it! _

After a short pause, Hinata said _ Ok, it's on! _

_ Good, now activate your Byakugan! _Adam said.

_ …Done! _

_ Good. Now using your mind, focus and push him out. Focus on one thing, a sight, an emotion, anything. Just do it NOW!! _

For a second he couldn't feel anything, then felt something. That feeling turned into a wave, all focused on one thing.

_Adam._

Adam was astounded at the depths of her love for him. She pushed Ïvorien out, and then some. She unconsciously put up extra barriers for further attack from him.

_ Did it work? _ Hinata asked.

_ It did, better than expected _ answered Adam.

_ Adam, I miss you. When will you be getting back? _

_ Soon, baby, soon. I swear _

_ Ok, Adam. See you _

_ Bye, babe _

"-dam, can…hear…-e? You…-istening?" said a voice from the darkness.

"Yes, I hear you Kakashi," answered Adam, opening his eyes. He was lying flat on his back, looking up into the clouds. Then Naruto's face popped into his vision.

"You really shouldn't scare us like that, Adam," he said, "What just happened?"

"Hin—Hinata," answered Adam.

"Hinata? What about her?" asked Sakura.

"She—she was in trouble," answered Adam, struggling into a sitting position, helped into place by Sasuke, "I had to help her. Ïvorien thinks he can get to me through her. He mentally attacked her, and we managed to fight him off together."

"Whoa, back up," said Naruto, "You _like _her?"

"Yeah," answered Adam, "She used to like you, as I said. But you kept ignoring her, so she turned to someone who could love her. I fitted the bill."

"So you're now going out with _Hinata?_" asked Sakura.

"You make it sound like its wrong or something. You yourself have a crush on Sasuke."

"Shh!" she said, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, Sakura," Sasuke, said with a small smile, "I had already guessed."

"Your perceptiveness is impressive, Sasuke," Adam said.

"No more than yours," answered Sasuke, "It was obvious, the way Sakura agreed to whatever I said no matter what, the same way she puts down Naruto with every other breath."

"Agreed," answered Adam, "Now help me to stand,"

"Adam!" said Sakura, "The training is over! Sasuke is no longer your pawn to order around!"

"I suppose…" said Adam, "Ok, Sasuke, no more Grandmaster stuff until the new year, Ok?"

"Ok, Grand…Adam," he said.

"In fact, Sasuke, let's go for a walk. I need to tell you something. In private, away from prying eyes."

"Ok, Adam," said Sasuke, curious.


	10. Chapter 10

A little while later, they were sitting on the edge of the wharf, looking out over the ocean. They were silent for about five minutes, Adam mulling over what he was going to say, Sasuke just enjoying being in his Master's presence.

"Sasuke, you know you are not the last Uchiha, right?" Adam asked.

"I know," said Sasuke, "I have a brother called Itachi. I plan to kill him."

"No, you are wrong," said Adam.

"What do you mean? Am I wrong to seek vengeance on the monster that destroyed my clan?"

"No you are right in that regard," answered Adam slowly, unconsciously making the hand signs for the Great Fireball Jutsu, "Itachi is only your half-brother. You share the same mother, but not the same father."

"So? That is no matter. It makes it easier to kill him," Sasuke said.

"You do have a real, full brother, however. One who is not rogue; one who survived the Uchiha Massacre," said Adam, silently committing himself fully.

"Really?" asked a startled Sasuke, "Who is it?"

"Who?" asked Adam with a wry smile, "Me, of course."

"You?" said Sasuke, "There's no way!"

"That's exactly what Kakashi said," answered Adam still with the smile.

"But—but you can't! If Itachi knew about you, you wouldn't be here."

"Itachi knew about me, but I am here!" answered Adam, "I was just too far away for him to do anything."

"How can I believe you?" asked Sasuke, still suspicious about him.

"Because of…this," Adam said, closing his eyes for a second, then reopening them. His eyes held the Sharingan Mirror Eye. "Only Uchiha clan members can have these, as you know," he continued.

"But what about Kakashi?" asked Sasuke, "Is he part of our clan?"

"No," answered Adam, "You see, our uncle Obito, who was in Kakashi's squad when they were young, was crushed by a boulder during a mission, as a last request, Obito gave his left Sharingan eye to replace Kakashi's ruined one. So, I suppose Kakashi sort of is part of our clan, but not by blood."

"I see," said Sasuke, looking out over the sea.

"I tell you this now for two reasons," said Adam, dropping a hand on Sasuke's shoulders, "One, so you stop acting so up yourself to others. It's my job as an older brother to make sure his baby brother stays out of trouble, and you keeping acting like you do, you _will_ end up getting smashed by some guy who's had enough. Two, I hope you can now open up to others. I have noticed you stay secretive. It's always good for older brothers to see little brothers to go steady for a bit. Go on, get a girl, open up a bit. You'll feel better than keeping hate and anger inside you. I know from experience."

"Is the only reason you selected me to be a Psyker is I'm your brother?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh, no," answered Adam, "If you were unfit, I would never have taken you on. By the same token, if you had disagreed to the tenets, or dishonoured the Psykers, I would have killed you, just like any other Psyker. Blood ties run deep, but others run deeper. You will learn this as time goes on. Although Naruto _is_ better suited due to the Fox's chakra reserves inside him, you have the Sharingan, and once we unleash it, you will overpower him. Brute force must _always_ bow to foresight and lateral thinking, the sort of thing the Sharingan and your mind can provide. If we're lucky, we might even be able to unlock the Makenkyo Sharingan, but I wouldn't bet on it."

"I see," said Sasuke.

"So…any girl you had your eye on lately?" asked Adam, "Oh, by the way, my birth name is Tovríen Uchiha. Shrrgnein figured it out shortly after we met."

"Uh…I haven't really thought of anyone," said Sasuke, going slightly red.

"Now, that doesn't work against a person who can read your mind, little brother," said Adam with a smile. "You can tell me, or I can find out."

Sasuke answered with a little mumble, looking away again.

"Ok, looks like we're doing this the hard way," said Adam, extending his consciousness towards Sasuke.

"Sakura," he answered in a small voice, going even redder, even though Adam didn't think that it was possible.

"Wha—? Really?" asked Adam, although not really surprised.

"Yeah," said Sasuke, "She's smart, and good looking,"

"Eh, fair enough," said Adam, "You know another responsibility of older brothers is to embarrass their younger brother to the utmost degree. So unless you manage to stop me, I am _so_ telling Sakura this."

"WHAT?! NO!" yelled Sasuke, running after Adam, who had already run off in the direction of Tazuna's house. He landed just in time to see the front door shut. He ran inside, and looked around for Adam. He heard his voice in the lounge room. He ran in, and saw him talking to Sakura. He quickly ran up behind him and got him in a chokehold. Adam just stiffened his neck muscles and continued talking.

"…so yeah. We were out on the pier and we were talking, and I told him something important…" he said. Sasuke flipped a kick at Adam's head, who deftly ducked it, paying no attention to him, "…and he told me he likes someone." Sasuke landed, and dropped into a low spin kick, aiming to trip his feet. Adam jumped over it, still looking at Sakura, "I guess by his trying to stop me, he doesn't want me to tell you, but oh well. You deserve to know." Sasuke, as a last resort, clamped his hand over Adam's mouth, cutting of his speech. Adam made the _tora_ hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke. He appeared upside on the roof, still talking, "Sasuke likes you Sakura. His reasons were pretty straightforward; you're smart and good looking. Sounds fair enough huh? What do you think?"

"Sasuke is this true?" asked Sakura in a small voice.

"Uh, yeah, it is," said Sasuke, ceasing in his attempt to get Adam off the roof, "sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"Oh Sasuke!" said Sakura running into Sasuke, burying her head into his shoulder. After some hesitation, he put his hands around her shoulders as she cried quietly.

"Well, Sasuke, I think I worked out pretty well. What do you think?" asked Adam.

"You know I could've told her myself though, don't you?" said Sasuke, looking up at him.

"Yeah, but you never would have," answered Adam with a smile, flipping off the roof and walking over to Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura," he said, "I know you don't like me treating Sasuke so harshly, but isn't it an older brothers job to toughen up a younger one?"

"W—what?" asked Sakura, looking over Sasuke's shoulder, not comprehending.

"Sakura, Sasuke's my baby brother," said Adam with a smile.

"R—really?" asked Sakura, drying her eyes.

"Yes, really; you seem to be taking it better than Sasuke himself."

"I could see some small similarities between Sasuke and you, although I thought I was just being silly at the time," said Sakura.

"Oh, really?" asked Adam, genuinely surprised, "What sort of similarities?"

"The way you held yourself was one giveaway. You acted proud, but not arrogant, like you knew you were better than everyone else, but you didn't let it get to your head. Another hint was that way you and Sasuke acted seamlessly in the first test with Kakashi, trying to get the bells. Only family, however faint, can work that well together."

"Wow," said Adam, "You picked a good one, Sasuke. She really _is_ smart. There's another thing that this is gonna make better, to."

"What is it?" asked Sakura and Sasuke together.

"Well, sort of," said Adam, "Now you, Sakura, can go back to Konohagure and go up to Ino…I think you can figure out the rest."

"I can't wait," said Sakura, her eyes shining.

"Uh, am I missing something?" asked Sasuke, confused.

"You know the girl called Ino, back in the Village Hidden in the Leaves? Well, she and Sakura had a sort of…_rivalry_…going on. They wanted to see who would go out with you first. Now that you said that _you_ like her, and not the other way around, Sakura just took a huge leap forward."

"You mean I was just a bet?" asked Sasuke, faking sadness.

"Sasuke, no," answered Sakura, shooting a look of pure poison at Adam, "I _do_ love you. Please listen to me."

Just then, Naruto picked the worst time to walk in. He saw Sakura in Sasuke's arms. Since he had a crush on Sakura, he thought this was terrible.

"Ah," said Adam, "I think I will be leaving now." So saying, he made the _tora_ sign again, and teleported away, to where he thought Kakashi would be.

"Sakura, what's going on?" Naruto asked in a strangled voice.

"Naruto, I'm going out with Sasuke," answered Sakura.

Sasuke put himself between Sakura and Naruto, "Naruto, please understand…" he began.

"No!" said Naruto, "Sakura, what does Sasuke have that I don't?"

"I can't explain it," said Sakura from over Sasuke shoulder, "He…he's just different."

"So different means better? Is that it?" asked Naruto, walking slowly towards them.

"Naruto, anger begets hate. Hate begets death. Don't do this," Sasuke said.

"You shut up," said Naruto, clenching his hands into fists.

"I will not," said Sasuke, radiating calm and self assuredness, "Leave us alone."

There was something in Sasuke's stance, the fact he wasn't in a fighting stance, that he was sure he could defeat Naruto without fighting, is what stopped Naruto from attacking.

"Damn you Sasuke," he whispered, turning away, "Why…?"

Naruto ran out of the room.

"That was _not_ something I enjoy doing," said Sasuke, dropping into a sitting position against the wall.

"So Kakashi," said Adam, morphing up out of the ground next to his sensei, startling him, "When are we leaving?"

"Probably later on today," said Kakashi.

Adam tilted his head on the side as if listening to something. "Naruto plans to kill Sasuke when we leave. If we go _now_ we can stop him. What do you think?" When he looked back, Kakashi was already gone. "I thought so," Adam said quietly, morphing back into the ground.

Kakashi appeared in Naruto's room with a burst of smoke. A few seconds later, Adam morphed out of the roof, sticking to it, upside down. One half of his face was normal; the other half was the face of the Night Angel.

"Adam told me you were planning to kill Sasuke when we leave here," said Kakashi, stunning Naruto, "I have become used to trusting Adam's hunches, because they are usually right; stop thinking about killing him, if you are."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Naruto, although his eyes gave him away.

"Naruto," said the Adam/Night Angel fusion, "I will protect my brother with my life, even if I must kill you. Don't make it come to that. Please."

"Y—your brother? So that's why you chose Sasuke!" shouted Naruto.

"No, Naruto. Even if _you_ were my brother, I still would have chosen Sasuke. Also, however, as I told him, if he had failed to uphold the Psyker tenets, I would have treated him like any other Psyker and killed him. He understands and accepts this. Now still those thoughts of evil Naruto, lest they consume you. I think that I was premature in releasing the Fox. I may have to reseal or destroy it."

"No!" yelled Naruto, "You can't! You have no right!"

"I released it in the first place, Naruto. If I made a mistake, I have every right to correct it."

"But you didn't make a mistake!" protested Naruto.

"The Fox's anger and evil nature is infecting him," said Adam to Kakashi, who nodded slightly. "I should've waited until he was eighteen, when he would have been able to handle it."

Moving with impossible speed, he flipped off the roof onto the floor, ran forward and smashed Naruto in the stomach, winding him. He then grabbed Naruto's hair with his left hand and pulled his head backwards, and the tips of his right hand burst into green flames. He then thrust his right hand into the centre of Naruto's stomach, just over the area he did when he released the Fox. He released Naruto's hair, and let him fly backwards into the wall. By now, Kakashi trusted Adam to know what he was doing, so he didn't comment.

"There," said Adam with satisfaction, "Now the Fox is once again sealed to his soul, _until_ he turns twenty-one, by when I estimate he should be able to control its killing urges."

"Why the sudden age rise?" asked Kakashi.

"One thing I have learnt over my many years is that every time life gives you a chance to take a precaution, take it," answered Adam, picking up Naruto, and carrying him over to his bed.

"Fair enough," said Kakashi, "But I suppose this has set our schedule back a day or two."

"Not so," said Adam, "I can carry Naruto. He weighs a bit less than a feather to me. I say we should leave at about noon today. We take the east entrance out, head back across the water and from there I can draw on all the energy around us to teleport us all back, to save us the walk."

"Y—you have enough energy to do that?" asked Kakashi, stunned.

"I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't sure, Kakashi," said Adam with a smile, "It's now ten o'clock. Be ready in two hours. I'll tell the others."

Adam went back out into the lounge room, to see Sasuke and Sakura engaged in a fierce kissing session on the floor.

"Uh, if this is a bad time, I can always come back," said Adam with a slight cough.

"Oh, Adam!" said Sakura, drawing away and instantly going deep red.

"All I came to tell you was that we leave in two hours. Pack your gear, make sure everything's ready, then you two can go back to tongue-wrestling on the floor. Oh, by the way, Sasuke, I just saved your life."

"What?" asked Sasuke, "How?"

"Naruto was planning to kill you on the way back," said Adam, "It seemed I released the Fox too early, and its anger was taking over him. I resealed it until he would be old enough to control it. He'll be fine, and probably won't remember anything. He probably will still dislike you for taking Sakura, but he won't kill you, or even lay a hand on you. In fact, he'll probably work harder to try to gain her affections."

"Sakura," she said icily, "would prefer it if you remembered that she was in the room."

"Sorry, Sakura," said Adam with a smile, "Just check your gear. I'll leave you two alone. I know me and Hinata would have liked to be." He winked and walked out.


	11. Chapter 11

It was twelve-thirty when they all met at the east entrance.

"So I guess you two had fun," said Adam, with a sly smile, hoisting Naruto further up his shoulder.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.

"Oh, nothing sensei," said Adam innocently.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure," said Kakashi, "It doesn't matter, though. It's time we left. Everyone got all their stuff? Adam, you have Naruto's, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it. Let's go already," said Adam impatiently.

"Ok, ok," said Kakashi, leading the way. "First we go to the boat guy who took us here. He takes us back across the river, and then Adam will be able to teleport us home, got it?"

"Yeah," said Sasuke and Sakura.

It took about another uneventful hour to get to where Adam thought there was enough plant life to drain energy from. "You three might feel slightly weaker as I unintentionally draw energy from you. It won't be much though."

He planted his hands on the ground and said, "_Plas ges mi srek._" His hands started glowing blue with energy. At the same time, the trees grew grey and died, the grass withered up, and even the wind seemed to still as the energy was taken from it. Then, the purple bands of a Teleportation Psyjutsu appeared, although a lot bigger, and enveloped them.

When the purple bands disappeared, they looked around their surroundings. It was Southsway Bridge, where they had first started on their journey.

"First I'm going to drop Naruto off at his house," said Adam, "Then I'm going to pay Hinata a visit, if she's here." So saying, he leaped into the air and disappeared.

"So what are you two going to do now?" asked Kakashi with a sidelong glance at Sasuke and Sakura, who were unconsciously holding hands.

"We don't know yet," said Sakura, "we talked about it when we were back in Nami no Kuni, but we didn't make any plans. Maybe just go to the Hokage heads for a bit."

"Fair enough," said Kakashi, "If I need you, I'll find you, ok?"

"Yeah, no problem," said Sasuke, walking away with Sakura, her head resting on his shoulder.

_ Hinata? _ Adam asked.

_ Adam? How can you… _ began Hinata, surprised.

_ Talk to you? I have been inside your mind twice now. I can recognise your brain patterns and track them back. Where are you? _ asked Adam.

_ Just coming back through East Arches. _ answered Hinata.

_ Ok, do you want me to meet you there, or you want to rest first? _ Adam asked.

_ Meet me here. _

_ Ok. See you soon. _

In about five minutes time, Hinata and the rest of squad 8 came into view. From his training, Adam did not reveal himself, even though he was, in a way, in plain sight. He was crouched on the top of the East Arches, his right knee brought up to his chest, his other stretched out to the left, almost parallel, shielding himself with a Chameleon Jutsu. As they came closer, Adam morphed into the wood and came out upside down, in the same pose, still with the Chameleon Jutsu. Just as they walked under him, he ended the Jutsu and flipped out so his landed, without a sound, behind them. He then followed them for a few more meters, before grabbing Hinata, who was at the back of the group, spun her around, and kissed her fiercely on the lips. She shrieked for a second, then realising who it was, gave in and returned the sentiments. As they broke apart, she said breathlessly, "You could have given me some warning!"

"Ah, but there's no fun in that," answered Adam with a smile. Then he turned to Hinata's sensei, "Kurenai, I trust your mission went well?"

"Far from it," said Kurenai with a sigh, "It _was_ going well, but we had to take out a guard…"

"Whoa," said Adam, "What rank mission was this?"

"C-Rank," said Kurenai.

"So, if it was only a guard, what went wrong?" asked Adam, although he thought he knew the answer.

"_Hinata_ refused to take him out, and inadvertently alerted him. Fifty-seven deaths. Fifty-seven. Out of a mission that should've had, maybe three at the most."

"How did Hinata alert him?" Adam asked.

"As she pulled the kunai out, her hand was shaking. They rattled together, and he heard the noise," Kurenai answered.

"So her hand was shaking, so what?" said Adam, "It was what, her first kill? It would've happened to anyone. I bet you weren't so confident when it was your kill."

"I…that's different. I mean…" started Kurenai.

"It's not different at all. I was just the same, when I took my first life. Then again…I did it to survive."

"It matters not. She was the reason we failed," said Kurenai.

"Let's check that, shall we?" asked Adam, extending his arms out to both sides.

"What are you doing?" asked Kurenai, as the world started warping and twisting.

"We're going back in time, to see _who_ made it fail," said Adam.

_Four shapes crept forward in the pre-dawn darkness, roughly three feet apart. They came up to a line of shrubs. As they ducked behind them, one of them pointed at another then at the single guard. As she pointed at the other figure, her other arm rustled the bush. As soon as he heard it, the guard turned to look. As he heard the slight clink of metal on metal, he started towards the garrison…_

"It seems to me," said Adam, coming back to their timeline, "That it was you, not Hinata, who alerted him. Hinata may have confirmed it, but you initialized it."

"I…I don't know what to say," said Kurenai, astounded that she, a Jonin, could've make such a basic mistake.

"I think 'sorry Hinata' would fit the bill perfectly," said Adam.

"I—I apologize Hinata, I didn't realize it was me…" said Kurenai.

"It's nothing," said Hinata, blushing that Adam made such a big deal out of it.

"Kurenai, with your permission?" Adam asked, extending a hand towards Hinata.

"Of course. Everyone, mission complete, although maybe not the way it was planned. You are dismissed."

"Lady Hyuga," Adam said, making a bow to Hinata, who, giggling, took his hand.

"Lord Gale," said Hinata, still blushing.

"Actually, my lady, its lord Uchiha," said Adam, before activating the Teleportation Psyjutsu.

The Psyjutsu dissipated, and they appeared out on the Hokage heads, just next to Sasuke and Sakura.

"How's it going?" asked Adam.

"Whoa," said Sasuke with surprise, "Adam, you gotta stop doing that."

"Stop avoiding the question," said Adam, "Or else I'll ask Sakura, and we both know she'll answer with the truth. All of it."

"It's been going fine," said Sasuke quickly, eyeing a blushing Sakura, "How about you? You two look happy."

"Oh, I know a lot about pleasing women," said Adam with a wink, earning a play slap from Hinata.

Sasuke laughed, then whispered, "You gotta give me some tips later, ok?"

"What was that, Sasuke?" asked Sakura suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing babe, nothing at all," said Sasuke innocently.

"Sasuke, it's never nothing with you," said Sakura.

All four of them shared a companionship moment, just looking over the village.

"So," said Adam, breaking the silence, "Who's going to enter the Chunin Exams?"

"The—the Chunin exams?" asked Hinata, "They aren't on for a while, are they?"

"One week until the first test is on," said Adam, "We should get the entry tickets about four days from now."

"A—already?" asked Hinata fearfully.

"Hinata, I believe in you," said Adam, "I believe you can make it. That's all you need."

"No offence, but I doubt it," said Sakura, "I doubt any of us, except maybe Adam, and perhaps Sasuke, would stand a chance of getting through. We only got a few weeks instead of the normal six months training period."

"You wait and see," said Adam, "Four days from now, both our sensei's will give us entry forms. And we have to enter in groups of threes, or in my case, fours, so if one doesn't enter, we all don't. Because of this, I am offering two days training for everyone here, to prepare for the Exams. If you want to decline you can, but Sasuke, I suggest you tell them what my training can do. None of you have to take the Psyker vows, except for Sasuke, who already has. You have an hour to make your decision."

"I'm in," said Sasuke instantly.

"Yeah, I thought you would be," said Adam.

"Me too," said Hinata, surprising all but Adam.

They all looked at Sakura. "Sorry Adam, but I'm staying out of it. Thousands of Shinobi have come before us without Psyker powers. I can to."

"Ok," said Adam, "But if you change your mind, or even if you want to talk or something, I live in a house on that hill up there, looking over the village. Hinata, your training shall begin immediately. Sasuke, I suggest you keep on your Fire Clones until you can hold either two for half an hour or four for fifteen minutes. Sakura, could you please keep watch over him. I don't want my only baby brother to die from lack of attention on my part, and we both know how much he likes pushing himself past his limits." They both shared a rueful smile as they remembered Adam coming into Tazuna's house with Sasuke exhausted to the point of comatose from creating too many Fire Clones on his first try. "Here," Adam continued, "Take these soldier pills. Take one when you start training, which I guess will be as soon as we leave. Sakura, if he faints, give him a pill and _force_ him to rest for at least ten minutes, preferably fifteen. Sasuke, I will also be keeping personal tabs on your training. So watch your back, because I might just decide to test how good your senses and reflexes really are."

"I'm looking forward to it," said Sasuke with a smile.

"Don't get too cocky, Sasuke. Self confidence can be just as deadly as self doubt. Goodbye. Come on Hinata, grab my arm."

The purple bands appeared again…

….and when they were gone, they were in a clearing, surrounded by tall trees on each side, with one stump in the middle. The clearing was at least twenty metres in diameter, so there was plenty of room to move.

"Now," said Adam, "We begin your training. It will include advanced Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu. I assume you know what they all are?"

"Ninjutsu is the physical way of using chakra, like the Fireball Jutsu. Genjutsu is the mental way of using chakra, like creating illusions and the like. Taijutsu is another way of physically using chakra, but it is used to strengthen the body instead of creating fire, water or the like," answered Hinata.

"That was perfect," said Adam happily, "So, you pick one of those three categories that you think you need work in, and I'll think up something that could help you."

"T—that's it?" asked Hinata, almost exactly the same as Sasuke did in the Land of Waves.

"Unless you have a better idea," said Adam.

"No," said Hinata, then, "Adam, what do _you_ think I should do?"

"Personally? I think you should go for the Taijutsu, since you seem pretty proficient in the others."

"How do you know?" asked Hinata, "You've never seen me do any."

"You forget, I was here since you started training; before then, actually, if memory serves me right," said Adam.

"Ok," said Hinata, "I'll try Taijutsu."

"If you wish," said Adam, "Now, Taijutsu places a great strain on a users body, some more than others. What do I mean by strain? I mean that if you use too much Taijutsu without incorporating other styles, your muscles will probably rip themselves apart. Used sparingly, however, and if you mix it in with Nin- and Genjutsu, it can be _extremely_ effective. There are some people, however, who focus entirely on Taijutsu. If you meet one of those people, _never_ under any circumstances, get to close range, for they will tear you apart. I'm not joking either. Even I would have a hard time going up against a Taijutsu expert."

"So what will I be doing?" asked Hinata.

"First, we will focus on your physical strength, and once that's up to an acceptable level, we'll go to actually teaching. Got it?"

"Yes," said Hinata, "But how will we increase my strength?"

"I could increase it with my Psy powers, but that would be an abomination of mankind, even to me. So I will give you this orb; squeeze it and crack it like an egg, then you should feel…"

"AHHH!!!" Hinata screamed, dropping to her knees, as blue lines wrapped around her arms, to her face, and down her legs.

"…like this," finished Adam, looking on impassively.

"Adam!!" Hinata yelled, reaching out to him, "Help me!!"

"I cannot," said Adam, stepping out of her reach, "You must fight this battle yourself. Should you survive, you will be much stronger because of it."

"I can't!!" yelled Hinata, trying to move towards Adam, "I need your help!!"

"If that's true, then I shouldn't have accepted to train you," said Adam.

"You are a monster!!" yelled Hinata, slumping to the ground.

"No, Hinata," said Adam, moving forward again, "I am not a monster. I strive to bring the best out in everyone, even if that person should get hurt, they will end up better for it, should they succeed. I thought that the Hyuga clan was strong. The most illustrious in all of Konohagure, I was told."

"I was exiled," said Hinata, making no move to get up, surrendering to the pain of her body being transfigured.

"You are Lady Hyuga," said Adam harshly, "Heiress to the Hyuga clan. You are their leader by blood. You will be a better leader than your father ever was. However, should you give up now; Neji will take the lead once your father dies. If you give up here, I will forever remember you as the woman who had the chance to change a clan, but gave up, because it was too hard."

Hinata said nothing, but moved slightly. Then, she pushed herself to her knees, then onto her feet, hunched over, as if carrying a great weight on her back. The blue chakra lines were being absorbed into her skin.

"Good, excellent, in fact," said Adam, "Now, our training is over for the day. We will start tomorrow, if you are up to it."

"Forget it," said Hinata, standing up straight, "I thought you loved me Adam, yet you did not help me when I needed you."

"Hinata, I would give my life for you," said Adam, "A thousand times over, if need be, but I cannot fight every battle for you. You must learn to stand for yourself. I will not always be here, and when I'm not, you must learn to fend for yourself. Don't keep hiding behind other people, or you will become weak. And if you hope to revive the Hyuga clan, weak is one thing you cannot be."

"I do not want to take over the Hyuga clan," said Hinata, walking away, the blue fading into her skin.

"Then you are a coward," said Adam angrily, "and coward is worse than a monster."

"I'm no coward," said Hinata, stopping in her tracks, "I just have no wish to lead."

"Hinata, you may be strong enough to hold off Ïvorien, but you will _never_ be strong enough to hold off me for long. I can keep battering down your defences, and you can never outlast me. You are scared that your clan will reject you. You are scared that Neji will rise against you. Neither of these things will happen."

"How would you know?" asked Hinata, turning back to Adam.

"I suppose it's not really a power, but since I have increased my power over what the scientists had expected, I have flashes of the future, usually triggered by strong emotions. I seized on your pain, hope and love. There are many choices a person may take, and I cannot see what choice they _will_ take, but for you I see two choices. One, you stand up to your heritage, you lead the Hyuga clan once Hiashi dies, and you lead the clan out of the shithole it is currently in, out into the glory it has not had since your great-grandfather took over the clan. Or two, you stay in the background, and Neji takes over the clan. He will be a worse leader than your father, and he will drive the clan further into the ground. He will turn the branch families against the main body. There will be a clan civil war. The Hyuga clan will be destroyed. If he is allowed to _continue_ to lead, there will be _another_ clan war between the Uchiha's and the Hyuga's. The clan war will occur after Sasuke has managed to restore our clan, so there will be a huge loss of life, as Sharingan versus Byakugan. Make a choice now."

Hinata hesitated for a second, then walked over to Adam and hugged him, crying silently into his shoulder.

"You made the right choice," he said softly, then, as her energy ran out, as her body desperately tried to come to terms with her new found power, she sank into his arms. He picked her up and carried her through the wood for about ten minutes before getting to his house. He opened the door, took her inside, put her in her room, and went outside. He once again looked over the village. As he was standing there, a wolf came up to him and nudged Adam's hand with his nose. Adam looked down in surprise. He had been approached by animals before, since they could sense that he was different, peaceful, but he wondered at this sudden appearance. He felt a presence touch his mind, an animal one.

_Lord Tovríen, follow me. Great Lord Shrrgnein wishes an audience with you._

_I see_, answered Adam, _lead on brother wolf, and I shall follow._

They went higher up the mountain, until they reached another clearing, much bigger than the one near Adam's house. In the centre of the clearing sat Shrrgnein.

"Lord Shrrgnein," said Adam, making a bow.

_ How many times have I told you, don't call me 'Lord' and don't bow to me?_ asked Shrrgnein in an irritated voice.

"It's better to be safe than sorry with a god," said Adam, "Especially since I have no idea what mood you're in, and if you're angry, you won't want me rocking up saying 'yeah hi Shrrgnein, what do you want?' am I right?"

_ I suppose so _ said Shrrgnein with a chuckle.

"But what _did _you call me here for?" asked Adam, knowing that Shrrgnein is not known for calling humans for no reason. Even one like Adam.

_ One of my closest friends is in considerable pain. We do not know what is wrong. Would you please help? _ Shrrgnein asked.

"To the best of my abilities," said Adam, bowing slightly again, spreading his arms out to the side, "Where is he?"

_ Follow me _ said Shrrgnein, walking back through the ring of wolves surrounding the clearing. As they passed, all the wolves dropped to their front paws, bowing. They walked about twenty metres, and saw a huge wolf, one of the Titanic Wolves, the massive wolves that served on Shrrgnein's council, lying on his side, obviously in great pain. As Adam walked closer, he gasped.

"Ino'fure? Is that you? How…" Adam began.

_ It is I, Lord Tovríen _ said Ino'fure, who, like Shrrgnein, was capable of thought-communication, _ Can you help, Lord? I am injured on the inside, and my brothers can not see what is wrong. By all visual signs, I should be perfect _

"Hold on," said Adam with obvious concern, "Just let me check. Where about inside you does the pain come from?"

_ It starts in my stomach, Lord, and moves from there to my legs, making me so weak I cannot move _ answered Ino'fure.

"Have you eaten anything out of the ordinary lately?" asked Adam, moving forward to look closely at Ino'fure.

_ Nothing strange, no _ answered Ino'fure, then stopped to think, _ Well, now that you mention it, I came across a half eaten deer a few days ago. I finished it, and thought nothing of it. _

"That could be it," said Adam, moving to Ino'fure's head, and motioning for him to open his mouth, "Yes, I think some Ninja were out hunting, using poisoned arrows, or maybe kunai, and killed the deer. They took the un-poisoned section of the deer and left the rest. Do not think badly of them however, for they did not know that you to inhabit these woods." He pulled a small bag out of his pocket and tossed it on the ground in front of Ino'fure, saying "When you next eat, get some young cubs to put some of this on the meat. It will counteract the poison. It may pain you to eat, but after maybe two or three hours after eating your first bite, you will start feeling better. You should be back to full strength by tomorrow."

_ Thank you, Lord _ said Ino'fure, dipping his head.

"Anything for the wolf who personally saved my twice during the battle with the Demon Fox," said Adam, bowing slightly. "It was lucky Shrrgnein came to get me when he did," said Adam, "Another two or three days without my help and you would be dead."

Ino'fure seemed to shake at the thought, _ I am forever in your debt, Lord _ he said.

"No, I have to save your life once more. Then we will be even. Then I have to save you once more," said Adam.

_ Let's hope those days never come _ said Shrrgnein, coming over, _I thank you, Tovríen _

"It was my pleasure to save such a noble wolf," said Adam, standing up and dusting his knees, "By your leave, Lord Shrrgnein?"

_ You may leave, Tovríen, if there is nothing else Ino'fure needs to know _ said Shrrgnein.

"Only to avoid strenuous actions for the next two days. The poison attacks the legs of it's victims after going for the stomach. Once the poison is purged, it will take a while for him to get his full motor functions back."

_ Thank you, Master Tovríen _said Shrrgnein, _ Now, please leave and let us tend to him privately _

"Of course, Lord Shrrgnein," said Adam, disappearing into the bands of a teleportation Psyjutsu.


	12. Chapter 12

As he appeared outside his house again, he saw Hinata testing her newfound powers outside. She laughed as she jumped higher, ran faster, and hit harder than she ever had before.

"I see you agree with the turnout of the chakra orb," said Adam.

"Oh, thank you Adam!" said Hinata, as she ran towards him and flung herself into his arms.

"So you agree to continue with the training?" asked Adam, happy with the result of the fusion.

"Of course!" said Hinata, eyes shining.

"Well, you're still going to have to wait until tomorrow, because I want you to get accustomed to your new power before we push it to its limit," said Adam.

"But Adam, I can…" began Hinata.

"No, Hinata. This is one thing in which you can not sway me. You need to see what you can do, and perhaps more importantly, you need _rest_ so that your subconscious can get used to it."

"If you insist," said Hinata.

"I do," said Adam, "However, we can work on other things until then."

"Such as?" asked Hinata.

"We still need to work on your Ninjutsu, good as it is," said Adam.

"What should I do, then?" asked Hinata.

"How proficient are you in fire Jutsu?" asked Adam.

"Unfortunately, not very good," said Hinata.

"That's ok," said Adam, "since fire Jutsu is the Uchiha clan specialty."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," said Hinata, "Are you really an Uchiha?"

"I am," said Adam, "and, if you were listening, Sasuke's older brother."

"Anyway, what should I do to increase my Ninjutsu skills?" asked Hinata.

"Do you know the Fireball Jutsu?" asked Adam.

"No," said Hinata, "Is that where I should start?"

"I think so," said Adam, "The hand signs are, _mi, tora, saru, i, uma, tora. _Give it a try."

She makes the hand signs and then brings her right hand up in front of her face, first two fingers and thumb slightly bent, to create a 'C' shape. A small fireball erupts from the opening of the fingers and thumb, shooting out about ten feet before extinguishing.

"That…wasn't very much," said Hinata, disappointed with the outcome.

"It's ok," consoled Adam, "I mean, it was your first try, after all."

"Yeah, but I still should've done better," answered Hinata.

"Fire Jutsu's take a lot of chakra, more than you'd expect," said Adam, "This time, prepare for it by summoning up more chakra than last time."

"Ok," said Hinata, forming the first hand sign again, "_Mi, tora, saru, i, uma, tora!"_ She then blew through her hands again. This time, however, a roaring fire sprung forth, engulfing Adam and the earth in a five meter radius to the left of him.

"Adam!!" Hinata yelled, ending the Jutsu and running forward.

"Yes?" asked Adam, stepping forward from the flames, hair and clothes on fire, "Just a word of warning, this fire is quite hot, so don't get too close."

He mentally quenched the flames, and walked calmly towards Hinata. "What?" he asked, "Did you really think that a small fire like that could hurt me?"

"Small fire?" asked Hinata, discouraged, "I thought that was quite good."

"For a Shinobi, yes," said Adam, turning away slightly, "A real fire should be like _this_! _MI, TORA, SARU, I, UMA, TORA!!! FIRE STYLE, GREAT FIREBALL JUTSU!!_" He made the small 'c' shape with his fingers and blew through them. A huge fireball, at least ten feet high appeared from his mouth, scorching everything a hundred feet in front of him.

"W—wow," said Hinata, "How much chakra would that use up?"

"Enough to kill three Jonin Shinobi," answered Adam, "In fact, the person that taught that to me was only strong enough to do one a tenth of that size. You wouldn't probably know the one who taught me…"

"Try me, just in case," said Hinata, slipping closer to Adam.

"One of the Three Legendary Sannin," said Adam.

"T—the _Sannin?_" said Hinata, stopping in her tracks.

"Yeah," said Adam, looking wistful, "Jariya, I think it was. Yes, that was it, Jariya, the Toad Hermit. I also met Tsunade and Orochimaru. Tsunade was, of course, the one with the sex appeal. Jariya was the straightforward one. Orochimaru…was the, how should I say, different one. He thought outside the box when approached by a situation. Way outside, as it was. If there were three guards watching over an entrance, Jariya and Tsunade would probably just take them out with a kunai or _senbon_. Orochimaru would most likely try to turn them against each other using Genjutsu, then sneak in while they were distracted. If it all went according to plan, and it often did, the guards would usually end up killing each other, by which time Orochimaru would be long gone."

"I agree with Tsunade having the sex appeal, but who said I couldn't think up something like that," said a voice behind them.

"Master Jariya!" exclaimed Adam, turning around.

"Please Adam, it's not _Master_ anymore. You surpassed me a long time ago," said Jariya.

"If you're here, I'm guessing 'Flat-chested' Tsunade is here to, no?" asked Adam.

"I haven't heard her called that since I first met her," laughed Jariya.

"Yeah, you've been too scared," said Adam, smiling, "Oh, damn. Master Jariya, this is Hinata Hyuga, heiress to the Hyuga clan by blood. She's my girlfriend. Hinata, this is Jariya, one of the, and some would say the most advanced, Sannin, who trained under the Third Hokage."

"I know," said Hinata breathlessly, "I know all about you, Master Jariya."

"I know about you as well, Lady Hyuga," said Jariya, bending over to kiss her hand, sending her into blushing overdrive.

"Tsunade, you don't have to stay back there, I'm eager to see you again to," said Adam, looking into the trees.

"I don't know how you do it," said Tsunade, dropping from the tree and walking over.

"I merely pay attention," said Adam, meeting her halfway and giving her a hug. "So how have you been these past, what, five, ten years?"

"Thirteen, actually," said Tsunade, smiling.

"Really? Well, you've aged well," said Adam, still smiling.

"Oh, Adam, you always know what to say to impress the ladies," said Tsunade.

"I've figured that out as well," Hinata piped up, and the two of them shared a 'lady moment'.

"So, why are you here?" asked Adam, "I know that you two don't just stop by for idle visits. Either you came by merely to watch Genin tear each other apart in the Chunin exams, or Orochimaru is nearby. I think it's a combination of the two. Am I right?"

"Sort of," said Jariya, "We heard rumours that Orochimaru is in the general area. It was pure luck that the Chunin exams are on. I think we'll stick around for that, what do you think, Tsunade?"

"I think it would be a good idea, I just want to see Adam's fight," said Tsunade.

"Actually, Tsunade, its Tovríen. I have decided to fight under my true colours."

"And they are…?" asked Tsunade, confused.

"Tovríen Uchiha, heir to the Uchiha clan by right of age and blood. Well, now that my parents are dead, I suppose _I_ would be Lord Uchiha now…" said Adam.

"You—you're an _Uchiha?_" asked Jariya incredulously.

"Sasuke's brother, no less," said Adam proudly, shrugging off his outer clothes, revealing a white singlet with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back.

"Sasuke is the last Uchiha, right?" asked Tsunade.

"_Was_ the last Uchiha. Not anymore. Well, if you include his half brother Itachi, then there are three of us left," said Adam.

"I stand corrected," said Tsunade, "So are you hoping or dreading the fact you might yet fight him?"

"Sort of both," answered Adam with a smile, "I mean, if I want to stop him, I'll either have to kill him or break every bone in his body, neither of which appeals to me. On the other hand, it'll be interesting to see how strong he is."

"Agreed," said Jariya, "But what are you and this young lady doing out here?"

"Training," said Hinata simply.

"Training? Why do you need training, Adam?" asked Jariya, puzzled.

"Ah, Jariya, if you continue to think like that, you will always be the Third Hokages' student. It's not for me, though, but for Hinata."

"I see," said Jariya, looking at Hinata as if seeing her for the first time, "What is he teaching you, Hinata? Not driving you too hard, I hope."

"Not really," said Hinata, casting a sidelong glance at Adam.

"'Not really'?" asked Jariya, turning to Adam, "Adam, what's going on?"

"Just a chakra orb," said Adam simply.

"_JUST_ a chakra orb?! Are you insane?! You know that you are the only being in existence able to absorb that much chakra in one go," said Jariya.

"Well, the proof of the contrary stands before you," said Adam, nodding slightly towards Hinata.

"He—he's already given you the chakra orb?" asked Jariya incredulously.

"Is a 'chakra orb' a glass sphere with a blue glow inside it?" asked Hinata, confused.

"_Blue?!_" interrupted Tsunade, "You gave her a _blue_? You _are_ insane!"

"She can obviously handle it," Adam shot back.

"Hinata, how do you feel?" asked Tsunade, turning to Hinata.

"I feel great," said Hinata, looking down at herself, "I have seriously never felt better."

"You're right," said Tsunade with some degree of amazement.

"Of course I'm right," said Adam happily, "It's easy to be right when you're never wrong."

"_Never _wrong?" said Jariya sceptically.

"Jariya, I love Hinata, do you really think I'd let her die from one of _my_ mistakes?" said Adam with a smile.

"Still, a blue," said Jariya, "Wouldn't a yellow have done it? A green at the absolute most?"

"Not for Taijutsu," said Adam.

"Taijutsu," said Jariya thoughtfully, "I suppose you are right. What type do you hope to teach her?"

"Hidden Leaf Hurricane," said Adam confidently.

"Are you serious?" asked Tsunade, "Adam, even Taijutsu _experts_ have trouble pulling that off!"

"Well, it was either that or the Lotus," said Adam, "since nobody but me can stand the Tiger's Dive."

"Supposedly nobody but you can stand a chakra orb either," said Jariya.

"Perhaps, but for the Tiger's Dive to work, you need at least seven chakra gates open, preferably all eight, and you at least need the first stage of the Sharingan, since the Tiger's Dive gives terrible tunnel vision, not unlike the Chidori. I suppose that Hinata might…no."

"No what?" asked Jariya.

"I have to stop thinking I can push her more than she can take," said Adam, "I thought that Hinata might be able to do it because she has the Byakugon, for the 360-degree view. But she still needs to open all eight chakra gates. I can do that, and survive."

"I see," said Jariya, "But the reason we came here was to propose something to you."

"Really?" asked Adam, interested.

"Really. We need you're help in taking down Orochimaru," said Tsunade.

"Can't two Sannin take out one?" asked Adam, "Anyway, I'm currently busy. Wait four days, and then I'll help you."

"Four days? That's way too long, he could be gone by then," said Jariya.

"He won't be," said Adam, "He's staying for the Chunin exams. He wants to see Sasuke in action, as do half of the Ninja village."

"You're sure of this?" asked Tsunade.

"Of course. It's the logical thing to do, and if I know one thing about Orochimaru, he may think outside the box, but he is logical. My next assumption is that Orochimaru will attempt to take over Sasuke's body. He hasn't thought about me though," said Adam.

"So _you'll_ take him out?" asked Jariya.

"No. He doesn't just need to die. He needs to be humiliated, his Village disbanded. For that, he needs to be killed in public, at least in view of his Village."

"Will that be possible?" asked Tsunade.

"As logical as Orochimaru is, he has never gone up against a foe with a 350 I.Q," said Adam with a smile.

"Fair enough," said Jariya with a smile.

"Jariya, I think it's time we left," said Tsunade, "We will watch your progress carefully, Adam. I think it will be quite…informative."

"Probably," conceded Adam, with a small nod.

With that, the two Sannin leapt into the trees, Tsunade leading the way.

"Training is over for the day," said Adam, walking inside the house.

"You never told me you knew the Sannin!" exclaimed Hinata, following him inside.

"You never asked," answered Adam, "I also never thought it would be important."

"Not important? Jariya trained _under_ the third Hokage, and he trained _the_ fourth Hokage! Of course they are important!"

Hinata was set to continue her lecture about exactly why he should've told her when she collapsed.

"Feel just fine, my ass," muttered Adam, catching her before she hit the floor, "I could tell you were barely holding it together. Now rest, and when you wake, you will see."

Adam carried her inside and laid her out on her bed, walked outside, sat down and started meditating, ordering his thoughts. After about three hours, he opened his eyes and looked at the rapidly darkening sky.

"I seriously hope you survive," whispered Adam, looking back at the house, "I'd miss you."

After what seemed like a matter of seconds, Hinata rose to the muffled thump of flesh on flesh. She hurried to the window and looked outside. Adam was standing in a fighting stance, though one unknown to Hinata. He ran towards his opponent, a masked person, dressed all in black, like the fictional Ninja garb. As Adam was about to punch, the masked man dropped to one foot and swept the other in an arc, aiming for Adam's foot with blinding speed; Adam, with equal speed, hopped over the foot and swapped the punch for a kick with his back leg. It connected with the masked man's chest, flipping him backwards, and even from at least ten metres away, she heard the sickening crack of his sternum breaking. As the man was recovering, Adam stepped back and brought his hands together, into the _tora_ hand sign.

"Gate 8, OPEN!!" yelled Adam, instantly going red (literally, he skin turned flame red), and his hair whipped around, as if hit by some unseen or unfelt wind. He then took a step towards his opponent and disappeared. Hinata looked around for him, and caught a glimpse of colour flash behind the masked man. Before she had her full vision on him, Adam had already lifted the man into the air from a rising uppercut to the back of his head. As the Ninja flew upwards, Adam followed him up, ramming a knee into his back. He then disappeared again, and appeared on top of his opponent, flipping him around so his face was towards the ground, and wrenched his arm around, pulverising his bones to dust and dislocating the shoulder. He then thrust a knee into the Ninja's back, flinging him towards the ground. Adam disappeared again, and appeared on the ground. Before the Ninja had fell ten metres, Adam was on him, smashing a fist into his stomach, not just bruising, but tearing open, the stomach. As both of them reached the pinnacle of their jump, Adam twirled around behind him and grabbed him in a pile-driver. As Adam and the Ninja fell towards the ground head first, reaching terminal velocity, Adam began to spin, increasing the centrifugal force, and the killing power. On their impacted, a huge crater was created, and a massive amount of sand and earth was tossed up into the air. When the dust cleared, Adam was standing straight, looking at the Ninja, who was lying face down in the dirt. The Ninja was an awful sight; every bone from his skull to his tailbone was broken, some multiple times. His neck was twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, so while his face was in the dirt, his body was facing upwards. Hinata was stunned.

"And that is why nobody but me can survive the Tiger's Dive," said a voice behind her. She turned around suddenly, and saw Adam standing there, as if nothing had happened. He wasn't even breathing hard. She turned to look outside again, and it too was as if nothing had happened, no crater, no nothing.

"What just happened?" asked Hinata, turning to look at Adam again, who had walked away to make a cup of coffee.

"I used Psyk to make a clone, but it had its own thoughts and mind. I still won though."

"As always," said Hinata with a smile, walking over behind him and slipping her arms around his waist.

"Nice to see you have so much confidence in me," said Adam, returning her smile, "So, today we actually begin your training."

"Finally," said Hinata, rolling her eyes.

"You will learn that the older you get, the more patient you get. As I am 150, I can wait for days, sometimes weeks, for something I need. If I am unfortunately hired to stake out a place, I can sometimes stay immobile for a couple of weeks. You, obviously, have not learned such restraint yet. This will be another good lesson for you then."

Just then there was a knock at the door. As he opened it, he saw Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and, for some reason, Kakashi.

"Uh, hi," said Adam, "Am I missing something here?"

"You could say that," said Sasuke, "The first Chunin exam is today. Now."

"What!? You gotta be kidding!" exclaimed Adam.

"Yes, of course," said Kakashi in a bored voice, "We all came here for an elaborate practical joke. Now get dressed, pack your stuff and let's go. You have five minutes."

"I'll have it done in two," said Adam, racing back inside. "Hinata," he said, catching sight of her, "I have made a grave error."

"What is it?" asked Hinata, her brow creasing.

"The Chunin exams are today. The first test begins in about two minutes."

"But how?!" yelled Hinata, "You said four days!"

"Hinata," said Adam, "It _is_ four days. You've been absorbing the effects of the chakra orb for four days straight. In those days, I've been tutoring Sasuke, but the effects so far should be enough. I've been distracted some nights and have gone off to train with…friends other nights."

"Then we have to hurry!" said Hinata, running to her room to grab her stuff.

Adam went back outside. "Are you how are we getting there?" he asked.

"I'm teleporting you to the bottom floor of the building, you get to room 301 yourselves," said Kakashi.

"Fair enough," said Adam, as Hinata appeared over his shoulder, hauling a duffel bag full of clothes and other stuff.

"And what have you two been doing these last four days?" asked Kakashi, then, "Scratch that, I actually don't want to know."

"Oh, it's not what you think," said Adam, letting Hinata get under his arm, "So, let's get going already."

"So much for 'you get more patient with age'," said Hinata, digging an elbow into his ribs as Kakashi activated the Teleportation Jutsu.


	13. Chapter 13

Kakashi dropped them off at the registration booth on the bottom floor of a building, it was impossible to guess which building from the inside however. Adam walked forward towards the booth where Iruka sat.

"Hey Iruka sensei, remember me?" asked Adam with a smile.

"Yes, its Adam isn't it? With team 7?" said Iruka, looking down the list.

"Yeah, with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, led by Kakashi Hatake," answered Adam, "I also have with me Hinata Hyuga, team 8."

"Ah, yes," said Iruka, checking five boxes on the sheet in front of him, "Go up to room 301, which is the first exam room."

"Thanks, Iruka," said Adam, leading the way up the steps. After a while, they saw a crowd gathered around a room. They checked the sign: 301. Naruto and the others stopped, but Adam and Sasuke kept walking, not paying any attention to the crowd.

"Oi, you!" yelled one of the Ninja in front of the door, obviously the reason behind the hold up, "Where do you think you're going? You need room 301, right?"

"Yeah," said Adam, but kept walking.

"What are you, blind?" asked the Genin bully, "Read the sign, 301!"

"I bet I'm not the only one who saw through your Genjutsu," said Adam, stopping and turning around, "I reckon Sakura also saw through it, am I right?"

"Huh?" she said, "Oh right, I mean, this is only 201, but you changed the sign. We only went up one flight of steps, with room 101 being on the bottom floor."

As she said it, the sign twisted and warped, to be replaced with 201.

"You think you're pretty hot stuff, don't you?" asked the Ninja bully, "But you'll never finish the Chunin exams."

"Big words coming from a kid who has to pay out others to prove he's a man," said Adam.

"I should knock you flat," said the kid, walking towards Adam.

"So now its physical violence to prove your manhood?" asked Adam, "How sad."

"That's IT!" said the kid, raising a fist.

Faster than the eye could see, Adam grabbed the kids hand and broke his wrist, stabbing the bone through the skin. The kid fell backwards, grasping his wrist, as his companion came over to see what was going on. The boy couldn't hold the Ninjutsu through the pain, and with a puff of smoke, transformed into a Chunin veteran.

"Hey, what's going on?" said the kids, now mans, companion, "Choi, you…"

"I broke his wrist," said Adam, "One of the major blood vessels in his wrist is ruptured. He'll go into shock in under five minutes. He'll be dead in less than ten."

"W—what are you?" asked the other Chunin, looking at his friend, who had gone white as shock was setting in.

"Two minutes till shock," said Adam cheerfully, "I suggest you get him to a doctor. If no one can save him, come and ask for Adam in room 301 and I'll attend to him personally. He should make it, though."

"Y—yeah, sure," said the other Chunin, grabbing his friend and teleporting away.

"You had no right to do that!" said a voice from the crowd.

"Oh, shut up, Neji," said Adam, walking away, "He attacked me, I defended myself."

"You didn't have to cut an artery! He could die!" protested Neji, pushing his way to the front.

"He won't," said Adam, "If the doctors are competent. I think you're jealous you couldn't react with the speed I did."

"I can move faster than you ever could," said Neji, surprising Adam.

"Really," said Adam, a dangerous edge coming into his voice, "Well, we'll have to wait to find that out. I hope most of these people are there to see the fight."

He walked up the steps and out of sight.

He opened the door of room 301, and, instantly, all eyes were on this new arrival, weighing him up, seeing if they thought they knew what he could do.

"Yeah, hi" Adam said, sitting down against the wall, "How are you?"

All the others looked at each other, confused; who was he talking to?

When they looked back, he was gone. Adam was sitting on the roof upside down, a Chameleon Jutsu in action. With a Chameleon Jutsu, the user could choose how transparent they were, and Adam was about 85% transparent, so if someone looked closely, they might be able to see a shimmering outline of a boy on the roof. He then evaluated the room. There was about two hundred Ninja in the room, sitting on desks, the floor or chairs, all from various Villages. The door opened again and the rest of the Konoha Ninja walked in. Nine of them, including Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata, were rookies, this being their first Chunin exam. The rest were older Shinobi who had taken the test before, but failed. An older Shinobi walked over to Naruto and the other members of squad seven and began talking to them. Adam flipped off the roof, ending the Chameleon Jutsu, startling some of the assembled Ninja. He walked over to Sakura and sat down next to her.

"You really did see through the Genjutsu didn't you?" asked Adam.

"I felt something was wrong," said Sakura slowly, "but I couldn't put my finger on it until you said that I could probably see it."

"You have the sharpest eyes I have ever seen," said Adam, "and that's including other Shinobi. Remember, I've been here for ten years, so I have seen a lot of Shinobi."

"Oh, thanks," said Sakura, beginning to blush.

"Hey, what's your name?" asked the new Ninja, who had grey hair, but a young face.

"Adam," said Adam, shaking the proffered hand, "and you?"

"My name is Kabuto," said the new guy.

"I'm guessing by your age that you've taken this test at least a couple of times before?" asked Adam.

"Seven times, to be precise," said Kabuto, laughing.

"Seven?" asked Adam, "Why so many? Surely you're not that bad."

"I am…sort of," said Kabuto.

"Sort of?" asked Adam.

"I gather information on the contestants and put them on these cards," said Kabuto, producing the cards.

"Uh-huh," said Adam, "So you fail on purpose then?"

"I have once," said Kabuto, "The others I failed from either stress or my teammates failing, and me being dragged down with them."

I see," said Adam. He gestured to the cards, "What do they say about, say, Naruto?"

"Let's see…" said Kabuto, shuffling the deck and drawing one seemingly at random. He placed it face down on the ground and tapped it with a forefinger. It went blank for a second and then showed Naruto's face in the top left corner. The bottom left was taken by a hexagon, with the words 'Stamina', 'Chakra', 'Ninjutsu', 'Genjutsu', 'Taijutsu', and 'Chakra Control' on the outside of each of the points. There was a large coloured spike towards the word 'Chakra', while 'Taijutsu' had almost no spike at all. The rest were somewhere around the middle. In the bottom right corner, a box with the letters 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D' on the left hand side was present. Next to 'D' there was a small number 5. Next to 'C' there was a small number 2. "Those represent the number of missions the person has been sent on," explained Kabuto. In the top right was the Konoha symbol and Naruto's Shinobi I.D number.

"Interesting," said Adam, "Do they have anything on me?"

"Probably," said Kabuto, pulling Naruto's card back into the deck and drawing a new one. He placed it face down and tapped it again. When it became clear, Kabuto gasped. Where the photo normally was, there was just a black indistinct shape with a white question mark in the middle of it. The hexagon showing the skills was fully lit, all the spikes going all the way to the edge. The mission box had a question mark against both 'D' and 'C' ranks, but there was a small number 47 against the 'B', and 136 against the 'A'. There was a Konoha symbol, but next to it was a different symbol, 適, sign of the Psykers (but Kabuto didn't know that). The I.D number was a mix of letters and symbols, as if it was a computer and it had an encountered an error. The longer Kabuto looked at it, the less sense it made: dA/\/\-1$--P5yK3r. Naruto's had been a standard 1411-8222-115. He quickly mentally checked his own, he knew it by heart, and it had said 1112-2221-100.

"Well?" asked Adam cheerfully.

"Y—your card is like none I've ever seen!" said Kabuto, "and I _made_ the things!"

"You really like confusing people, don't you?" whispered Sasuke into Adam's ear. Adam just smiled. A second later, a Jonin appeared with a puff of smoke at the front of the room.

"I am the proctor for the first exam," he said, "As some of you may have guessed, this is a classroom, so take your seats, anywhere will do."

There was stunned silence for a second, then the Genin started moving. Adam sat in the far back left. Sasuke and Sakura sat side by side near the middle of the room. Naruto sat at the front, fourth from the left. As soon as they had all sat down, the door opened and twenty Chunin entered.

"These Chunin are here to make sure you don't cheat during the test," the proctor said.

_A written test?_ thought Naruto, _I'm terrible at those!_

The Chunin dispersed among the Genin, distributing the test papers.

"If you are caught cheating four times, you, and your squad, will be removed from the room, and will immediately fail the exams," said the proctor, "Also, this test's scoring system is slightly different from most others. You start with ten points, and for every question you get wrong you lose a point. Every time you cheat, you lose two points, so you may be seen cheating four times before, on the fifth time, you will be ordered to leave. One more thing, the squad's points tally is not totalled, so if two members get ten points, and one member gets zero, the squad still fails. Now, you may begin!"

Adam looked at his paper. The first question said: _If a Ninja was in a tree 3.7 metres high, and his target was 13.2 metres away, what time would it have to be for the shadow of the tree to obscure a thrown shuriken?_ Adam thought about it, then wrote: _It depends on where the target is standing. For instance, if he is standing 13.2 metres north, then it won't matter what time is it, since the shadow will never go that way. If the target was standing to the west or east, it also shouldn't matter, since, if the target is travelling alone, he would need to know exactly where you are to be able to dodge to shuriken. Also, if the Ninja had any sort of accuracy, it wouldn't take more than one shuriken. If the target it travelling with a retinue, either throw more than one shuriken, or if there is a lot of them, either think of a different course of action or call for reinforcements._

Around him, Genin were dropping like flies as they were caught cheating. Some put up a fight before admitting defeat, others walked out straight away, head down, followed by their squad mates. Adam finished all nine questions in about ten minutes, all with answers the proctor would be sure to call unorthodox, but, in every respect, correct. He then turned his sheet upside down, lowered his pencil, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. About five minutes later, he heard the proctor call,

"You, back right! What do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to get some sleep," Adam answered, cracking one eye open, and noticing, once again, all eyes were on him.

"You don't have time to sleep!" the proctor yelled.

"Really? Then what else am I going to do for the last forty-five minutes of the test?" Adam asked.

"Finish the test!" said the proctor.

"You really are slow, aren't you?" asked Adam, drawing gasps from around the room, "It's obvious I'm already finished."

"Al—already?" asked the proctor, stunned.

"Yes, already," said Adam, in a bored voice, "If you want, I can do someone else's too."

"I think I better check these answers," the proctor said, walking up to the back of the room.

"Go ahead," said Adam, gesturing to the paper, "There's no way Genin can do these anyway. This is maybe for the Jonin tests, or something else. You are just a sadistic bastard who likes torturing kid's minds. Luckily, I'm not a kid."

The proctor read the paper, his eyebrows rising as he read. "What kind of crap is this?" he asked, "These aren't the correct answers."

"They might not be _the_ correct answers, but they _are_ correct," said Adam, closing his eyes again, "In the first question, you assume that the target is alone, unaware of your position, and travelling either east or west. If it's someone important, they will almost certainly have a bodyguard of some kind. It depends on how good of a Ninja you are whether they know where you are or not. There is also only a 1 in 2 chance that the target will be travelling east or west. They might have tracker dogs. They might have fore or rear guards. They might even have other Ninja. There are too many variables, and you're not giving me enough info to work from."

The proctor was stunned. How had this boy thought of all that? "What about question 10?" the proctor asked.

"You haven't given it to us yet, obviously," said Adam, beginning to breathe deeply, "Now please let me sleep. I haven't slept right for about ten years, so I take every bit I can get."

"But you might miss something!" said the proctor, but he was beginning to give.

"I have three attentive teammates and one attentive girlfriend. I'm sure they'll fill me in, and even if they don't, I'll find out somehow. I always do," said Adam, "Now, this chatter is tedious so I'm going to sleep away from you. Well, sort of."

Adam jumped to the roof, where he stood upside down, activated a 95% Chameleon Jutsu, and walked around the roof, until he was sure no one knew where he was. He then sat down, and fell asleep.

"Now for question ten," the proctor said, waking up Adam, who hadn't really slept, but gone into a sort of trance, taking on the appearance and mental state of sleep, but his subconscious kept track of everything going on around him. Adam flipped from the roof, ending the Chameleon Jutsu, and landing back in his chair. "For question ten," the proctor continued, as if nothing had happened, "there is a sort of catch. If you don't want to do it, then you may leave now."

As he said this, uproar started, as many of the Genin stated that, if they could skip it, why put it in?

"If you leave now," the proctor said, "you fail the test immediately. If, however, you stay and get the answer _wrong_, you lose the chance to take the Chunin exams _ever again._"

Everyone gasped. Then slowly, person after person stood and left, unable to take the pressure of the final question. Soon, only about thirty Genin were left. Even from the back of the room, Adam could see the pressure getting to Naruto.

_ Hey, Naruto _ he said with his mind _ Don't talk, just listen. Stay in the test. We entered this as a team. We will finish it as a team _

_ A—Adam? _ Naruto asked.

_ Yeah, so just trust me and stay in _

_ Ok _

Adam, and it seemed Sasuke and Sakura as well, saw Naruto, breathe deeply a few times, and then force himself to relax. Sakura turned slightly and caught Adam's eye. Adam just smiled and nodded slightly. Sakura nodded back and looked back to the front.

"There is one last call for anyone who thinks they may not be up to task," said the proctor. One or two more squads left. Out of the ones that were left, Hinata and her squad were still in, as was Neji and his. "I see," the proctor continued, "Well, you Ninja that are still here…pass."

"What?" said a stunned Naruto, "What about the tenth question?"

"There is no tenth question," said the proctor, "The tenth question is left blank to see who would chicken out when I said they could leave if they wanted to. You stayed in the fight and didn't give up, even though if you lost, you might never have become Chunin."

Just then, a huge scroll appeared in the middle of the proctors' stage, breaking off his speech. The scroll unravelled to reveal a female Ninja in her mid twenties, wearing a revealing shirt and a short skirt.

"This," the proctor said, with a sigh of exasperation, "is your proctor for the next test."

"Yeah, hi," the new proctor said, "My name's Anco, and I don't have much to say now. I just came here to introduce myself. When Ibiki is done talking, you have five hours to get to the fenced off forest near the south of the village. It's called Area 64, and it's surrounded by Chunin guards. You!" she said, pointing at Adam, "What did I just say?"

Adam jerked awake, "Huh, what? Oh, um, something about when the boring guy stops talking we have to get to some fenced of area in under five hours. Is that close enough?"

"Uh, yeah," Anco said, surprised that he call recall that when, for all she knew, he had been asleep.

"Good," said Adam, closing his eyes again, "So when do we leave?"

"Now," said the first proctor, disappearing into smoke, and Anco wrapping herself in her scroll again and disappeared.


	14. Chapter 14

As they were leaving the room, a boy in Neji's squad walked up to them. "Hello, my name is Rock Lee, and I would like to battle with the Uchiha, if I could," he said.

Naruto, seeing this as a chance to impress Sakura, stepped forward, "I'll be able to take you down with one shot!" he declared.

"No thank you," said the boy, "My only wish is to battle Uchiha, no one else,"

"I'm twice as good as Sasuke!" said Naruto, running towards Rock Lee.

As Naruto leapt towards him, Lee twisted to the side and brought a hand down on Naruto's neck, not breaking any bones, but knocking him unconscious. "So do you agree to fight me?" he asked.

Adam smiled, "Which Uchiha?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Lee, confused.

"Well," said Adam, steeping towards him, "There is Sasuke, or there is me, his big brother,"

"N-no way!" Lee said, stepping back slightly.

"Yes way," Adam said, closing and opening his eyes, activating his Sharingan, "Although I may be an Uchiha, my Sharingan is still undeveloped. You will still find me a worthy opponent, however."

"M—my only wish was to fight Sasuke," said Lee, looking unsure of himself now.

"Well, Sasuke, it's up to you," said Adam, turning to him.

"I suppose we _do_ have five hours," said Sasuke thoughtfully.

"However, I think that Rock Lee will be too much for you right now," said Adam quietly, "Even I would have a bit of trouble with him."

"You're sure?" said Sasuke, stunned.

"Of course," said Adam, "You can still go ahead if you want to test yourself, and I will heal you afterwards, but I won't be able to take away the pain you feel _during_ the battle."

"Sorry, Lee," said Sasuke, "I'll take you up on the battle another time."

"If you wish, Sasuke," said Lee, turning away, "But I will hold you to it."

"Of course I'm sure," said Adam, ushering the others ahead of him a step, "When I ever not sure? You guys go on. I just need to do something. I'll catch you up."

Sasuke nodded uncertainly and jumped away. Naruto stayed for a second longer, mouthed the word 'thanks', and jumped off after him.

Sakura walked forward, "Adam, what you did for Naruto, I'd like to say thank you for him, since he'll never get around to it. So thanks. It gave him the confidence boost he needed."

"No…I think if even I didn't do anything, his thoughts of never letting the team down would have pulled him through. I merely helped that thought along."

"If you say so," said Sakura, "I'd like to say thanks anyway." She then leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Let's hope Sasuke or Hinata didn't see that," said Adam, smiling.

"Just hurry to Area 64," said Sakura, also smiling, and she jumped away after Sasuke and Naruto.

Adam walked out from behind the memorial, startling Kakashi.

"Adam," he said, "What are you doing here?"

"The same as you, probably," answered Adam, his face totally serious, the first time Kakashi had ever seen it, "Maybe even paying respects to the same person."

"I doubt it," said Kakashi, looking down at the tombstone again. There were over a hundred names carved on there, all were Shinobi who had died valiantly since the Leaf Village had been created.

"I don't," said Adam, this time making a gem of pure sapphire appear in the centre of his hand, "I see it in your eyes, Kakashi-sensei. You re-live all your failures when you come here. That's why you're always late. I don't need to be psychic to see that. You think it was your fault the person you come to see died. It wasn't."

"You don't even know who I come for!" yelled Kakashi, angry.

"Obito. Obito Uchiha," said Adam, laying the sapphire down at the base of the grave.

"You looked into my mind," said Kakashi, a single tear sliding down his face, "I thought you were above that."

"Uncle Obito to me," said Adam, drawing a gasp from Kakashi, "You forgot I was an Uchiha? Easy enough I guess. About looking into your mind, as I came within five hundred metres of this site I shut down all Psyker abilities. I cannot read minds, nor use Psyk. Your thoughts are safe from me. Believe it or not, I can show respect."

"Thank you for that small privacy," said Kakashi, inclining his head slightly.

"Do you think he would have approved of the choices you've made throughout your life?" asked Adam with a sigh.

"I hope so," said Kakashi, looking towards the sky.

"I…had communicated with him over the years…after he had died. If you wish, I can bring his spirit here, and you two can catch up on lost time," said Adam, walking over to Kakashi, seeming to grow older with every step. When he reached Kakashi, he was about 23 years old.

"You—you can do that?" asked Kakashi, dumbstruck.

"It will be easiest here," said Adam, "Here is where his spirit is strongest. Do you want me to call him forth? I can hold the Psyjutsu for about half an hour and then I have to recharge for a day. It's not easy, calling a soul from the land of the dead."

"You need all your Psyk for the Chunin exams," said Kakashi.

"I can use chakra for the exams," said Adam simply, making a hand sign unknown to Kakashi. He made about ten hand signs, and then a fog appeared in front of them. It was not like normal fog however, for it became solid, like a mirror, but was still fuzzy like fog. "Now say the person's name you wish to speak with," said Adam.

"Obito Uchiha," said Kakashi in a daze.

The fog went black for about five seconds, but then a face shimmered into existence. It was the face of Obito. He had black spiky hair like Sasuke, but had Adam's piercing eyes. His headband was pulled over his left eye, like Kakashi's was.

"Obito?" whispered Kakashi.

"Kakashi? Kakashi Hatake? It's been too long!" said Obito happily.

"Are—are you really there?" asked Kakashi.

"Well, as much as I can be," said Obito, "Hello there Tovríen. How's Sasuke?"

"Pretty good, uncle Obito," said Adam, "In fact; I have decided to make him an apprentice Psyker."

"Are you sure that's wise?" asked Obito.

"Well, I mean, he'll have a pretty good teacher," said Adam.

"If I remember Kakashi right, he probably already does," said Obito, smiling at Kakashi, "Mind you, you better not drive him too hard, Tovríen."

"Sasuke doesn't know the meaning of words like, 'too hard', 'too much' or 'that's enough training for one day'," said Adam, laughing, "But the reason I called you here was so that you and Kakashi can catch up on lost time. I'm guessing that Kakashi will be doing most of the talking."

"Probably," laughed Obito, "Well, Kakashi? What's been going on? Has my Sharingan eye been treating you well?"

"So _that's_ how you got it!" said a voice from behind them.

Kakashi and Adam turned around, and Sasuke stepped out from behind some bushes.

"I didn't think he was part of our clan," said Sasuke, "Kakashi, did you take uncle Obito's Sharingan eye?"

"No," said Obito, "I gave it to him. When I was crushed by a boulder on one of our missions, I wanted part of me to live on in my best friend. Kakashi's left eye was already gone from a kunai. It was the obvious thing to do. Our other squad member, Anio, was good at healing and mending Jutsu's, so she attached my left eye to Kakashi. However, since he is not an Uchiha, and it was not his eye, he cannot turn off the Sharingan, so that's why he keeps it covered."

"I—I understand. Kakashi-sensei, I apologize…" Sasuke began.

"There's no need," Kakashi said, smiling beneath his mask, "Now you two better get going. Obito and I can talk some other, less important time."

"You're sure?" asked Adam.

"Yes," said Kakashi, and Obito nodded his head as well.

"Ok," said Adam, mentally severing the flow of Psygen. The image of Obito faded.

"Now, it's time you two left," said Kakashi.

"If you wish, Kakashi-sensei," said Adam, looking at Sasuke, his eyes telling him to let it pass. Adam leapt off, Sasuke close behind.

Hinata gave a start of surprise as she heard a sound behind her. She turned around, and sighed in relief. It was Adam.

"How's everything going here?" he asked, grasping her around the waist and pulling her close.

"So far so good," she answered, slipping her arms around his neck, "Where did you and Sasuke run off to?"

"It's unimportant," said Adam, softly but firmly, "how much longer do we have to wait?"

"You've been gone longer than you thought," said Hinata, pointing towards a shack near a gate, "Anco should be here any minute now."

"Really?" asked Adam, surprised, "I didn't think we were gone for that long…"

Just then a puff of smoke burst on top of the shack and Anco appeared there.

"All right, listen up, you maggots!" she yelled, "This isn't going to be any old theory test. This is a practical exam. You will be split up, half of you will get an 'earth' scroll, and the other half will receive a 'heaven' scroll. You must obtain both scrolls, which means that half of you will lose your scrolls. Once you have both scrolls, go to the big tower ten kilometres in from the fence line. Do not, under any circumstances, open the scrolls before you get to the tower. Some of you may die in there, but the Chunin and I will do our best to prevent it. We cannot be everywhere at once, however, so prepare yourselves. You have fifteen minutes before the gates open. Get ready."

Adam and Hinata walked over to Sasuke and the rest.

"So what do you think?" Sasuke asked.

"I think this will be too easy," said Adam.

"Too easy?" said Sakura in a high voice, "Adam, we could _die!_"

"Sasuke would give his life for you. If he died, I would give my life for you…well, as much as I can. We will get through this. Hinata and her squad included. If I have to die a hundred times over, I swear at least seven of the ten Konoha rookies will survive."

Squad 8, Hinata's squad, came over. "Hey," said one of them, a guy with a dog on his shoulder, "My name's Kiba."

"Adam," said Adam, extending a hand, "So you are Hinata's squad, huh? I already know Shino."

Shino didn't grin. "Adam," he said, by way of greeting.

Kiba took Adam's hand, weighing him up mentally, "So we might end up being enemies, huh?" he said.

"I doubt it," Adam said, pulling his hand back, "Even if you get heaven and we get earth, we'll target someone else. As Konoha Shinobi we need to stick together."

"Agreed," said Kiba, barely holding in a sigh of relief.

"However," said Adam, "If we both get the same scroll, there will be no need for us to fight. We could work together. Seven Shinobi could easily beat three."

"It depends who they are," Kiba said darkly.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked, looking around, mentally ticking off the minutes.

"The Sand Village Ninja look like they might be a bit of a challenge," he said, "as do these mysterious Sound Ninja."

"Agreed," said Adam, "Five minutes to go…"

As he said it, the Chunin started moving, distributing scrolls among the groups. Team 7 got earth. Team 8 got…earth. Kiba heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Looks like we can work together," he said with a shaky smile.

"Lucky," said Adam, smiling, "The gates should be opening about…"

The gates clanged open. The second Chunin Exam had begun.

"Fan out, two metre spread," said Adam, cloaked by his Stealth Psyker garb, "Hold up, I hear something. Hinata, Byakugon. Shino, send your bugs forward; recon only."

Hinata and Shino nodded, Hinata making about ten hand signs, Shino falling to a knee and putting his hand on a branch as wide as a medium-sized road.

"Byakugon!" Hinata whispered, her pupils becoming barely visible and the veins on either side of her head stood out, as if she held a great weight. "Four, five, no, six Shinobi about forty metres ahead," she said, and, from a nod from Adam, ended the Byakugon.

Shino nodded in agreement, "My bugs report three Sand and three Rain Shinobi, apparently about to battle."

"We should check it out," Kiba said, "If they weaken each other maybe we could…"

"No," Adam said, "Sakura and I will go on alone. Seven Shinobi would be too easy to spot. With me in my Psyker suit, and Sakura's ability of stealth, we should be undetected. We'll go down, stick our noses in, and bug out. Got it?"

Having all conceded Adam as their leader, they all nodded, although it was obvious Naruto didn't like the idea. Adam saw his face and said, "Sorry Naruto, but Sakura is better suited for stealth. If this was a thick battle, I'd like no one better by my side." Naruto cheered up. Sakura didn't seem too thrilled by being picked.

"You don't want to come along, Sakura?" Adam asked, picking up on it.

"No, I—I'll come," said Sakura, steeling herself.

"If you wish," Adam said, "I could shield you with a Chameleon Jutsu…"

"No," said Sakura, firmer now, "Let's go. Now."

"Let's," said Adam, turning away.


	15. Chapter 15

Adam and Sakura landed just behind some bushes near a clearing.

"Wait here," said Adam, "I'm going in for a better look. Be ready to move at a seconds notice. If they follow us, we'll split up, each head five hundred metres out, and circle back toward the rest of squad 7 and 8, got it?"

"Yeah," said Sakura, kneeling down.

Adam crept forward slowly, keeping low. As he pushed away some bushes in front of him, he heard a voice. "Give us your scroll," it said.

Adam peeked through the bushes and saw a Rain Ninja with a hand extended to a Sand Ninja squad.

His enhanced hearing overheard one of the Sand Ninja, a male with a black cloak, strange purple markings on his face, and a mummy-like figure on his back, say, "Gaara, leave this guy to me, I can take him."

"No," the one called Gaara said, "Kankuro, I want him."

Adam inspected Gaara; for it was obvious he commanded the other two, even though he was smaller. Gaara had flame red hair, green eyes and a huge gourd strapped to his back. The distinguishing feature, however, was a symbol, written in the same colour as his hair, inscribed to the left of his forehead, just above his left eyebrow. Adam didn't have time to recognise it before Gaara turned away. He walked towards the Rain Shinobi. Before he had taken ten steps, the other two Shinobi comprising the Rain Ninja's squad appeared from the trees. As soon as they had touched ground, the leader of the Rain Ninja leapt into the air, and opened an umbrella one of the other Rain Shinobi had thrown to him. Kunai and senbon flew out towards Gaara with unerring accuracy. Gaara made no move to dodge it, or any move at all. As the kunai homed in, the gourd's lid popped open and sand flew out, forming an impenetrable shield around Gaara anywhere the kunai struck. The sand came in and out of existence, disappearing once Gaara had been shielded. Strangely, Adam felt no chakra surge from him. It seemed the sand was acting of its own accord, with no guidance from Gaara. Gaara merely extended his hand towards the Rain Ninja who was stunned that his attack had come to nothing.

Gaara curled his hand into a half-fist, fingers slightly clenched. "Sand Tomb!" he said, and sand sprung up around the Rain Shinobi, encasing him. The Rain Ninja screamed as Gaara closed his hands, increasing the pressure of the sand. As Gaara closed his hand into a complete fist, Adam could hear the wet crunch of the Rain Ninja's bones breaking internally, his organs rupturing, and his skin bursting. The other two Rain Ninja begged for mercy, throwing their scroll at Gaara's feet, but Gaara merely disposed of them as he had their leader. He picked up the scroll, looked at it, and threw it back at the corpses on the ground. "They have the same as us," he said, walking back to Kankuro and the other Sand Ninja. They leapt away into the trees.

Sakura crept forward, her face ghostly white. "Is it safe?" she whispered.

"Not yet," Adam whispered back, staying low, "Stay here, I'm going to cloak myself and take a look at the dead. Promise me you'll stay here." Sakura nodded dumbly. Adam activated a 100% Chameleon Jutsu and walked forward, albeit slowly, so if the other Shinobi were still there, they would not see the dust his feet were raising, nor the footprints his feet left. He walked up to the lead Rain Ninja's body, and crouched over it. It wasn't a pretty sight. Every single bone was crushed into a near-powder form, his bone mixing with whatever blood was still inside him. His heart and lungs had been punctured and ripped by his own ribs, his stomach ripped from his spine snapping inwards. It was a grisly sight, and although Adam had seen worse, he was still disgusted. He then moved to the scroll and checked it. It was earth. He left it where it was, and moved back to Sakura, and deactivated the Chameleon Jutsu. Sakura was, understandably, scared as hell when someone appeared out of nowhere next to her. She uttered a little scream and started to run in what she thought was the general direction of the other Leaf Ninja.

"Sakura!" Adam said, "Calm down, it's just me!"

She looked around and saw Adam holding onto her arm. "Oh," she said, "I—I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault," said Adam, "I should have given you some sort of warning. Anyway, let's get back to the others."

"Agreed," said Sakura, her face still pale.

"But he can't be older than us, can he?" asked Sasuke, holding Sakura tight around the waist, her head on his shoulder.

"You said that about me," said Adam grimly, "It is possible that he could be older than you, or even maybe me."

"That's impossible!" Naruto said, thinking about what Adam had just said.

"Unlikely, but not impossible," said Adam, "I think he is just a very advanced Genin."

"If we used something like the Sand Coffin, we'd be wasted," said Sasuke, thinking about the scene Adam and Sakura had described.

"I'm more concerned about the fact that the sand reacted with any thought from Gaara," said Adam.

"We can talk later," said Kiba, and Akumaru, his dog, barked in agreement, "For now, we should get moving to somewhere where we can spend the night in relative safety, a cave maybe."

"I suppose…" said Sasuke, "But how do we know what time it is?"

"It's about eight thirty," said Adam, drawing looks from the others.

"How do you know?" asked Shino.

"I have a bio-clock implant," said Adam, "Just another wonderful device the scientists thought they should stuff into my body. I instantly know what time it is, wherever we are."

"Uh-huh," said Shino, turning away.

"There's a cave about fifty metres ahead," said Adam, looking in the direction, "it's on the ground, so it should be pretty safe from enemies in the trees. I'll stand guard for the night."

"Let's go," said Hinata, leading the way.

They made their way to the back of the cave, far out of sight. Adam lit a fire with a Fireball Jutsu, then dampened it so there was just enough light to see, but not enough for someone outside to see.

"You guys better sleep," said Adam, "You'll need all your strength for tomorrow."

"What about you?" asked Kiba, "You want me to take over the watch sometime?"

"Nah," said Adam, "I got it for the night. You guys rest, I'll keep guard. I'll wake you if anything happens."

"Thanks, Adam," said Sakura, spreading out her sleeping bag, the others copying her.

"No worries," grinned Adam, "If you want, you can take the watch tomorrow night."

When they had all settled down, Adam activated his stealth suit and blended into the wall, his clothes instantly taking on the colour and texture of the wall around him. His eyes did not remain static, but roamed from far away, to close in, left to right, ever ready for a miniscule sign of movement. He heard soft breathing behind him, and his mind instantly registered it as non-hostile and recognised. He turned and saw Hinata sitting against the wall, hands clasped before her, looking down.

"Can't sleep?" asked Adam, startling her.

"Oh, Adam…I was just, um," stuttered Hinata.

Adam walked over to her, and sat on his heels across from her, "You feeling a bit overwhelmed by the current events, huh?" he asked.

She nodded.

He put his arm around her and hugged her close. "Hinata," he said, "We _will_ get through this. Together; as a team. Do you understand?"

She nodded again. "I-it's just…" she said, "I don't know what to do sometimes. Neji says that my compassion is what's keeping me from being a strong Ninja. That I care too much for other people."

"Neji," Adam said, "says a lot of things, almost none of which are true. Your compassion sets you ahead of the rest. If a teammate of his fell in combat, I doubt he would compromise the mission to save him. You are the opposite. You would do everything in your power to save them. This doesn't make you weak; quite the opposite, in fact."

"The—the opposite?" asked Hinata.

"Oh, yes," said Adam, "If a teammate of yours was injured, I'd wager you'd fight all the harder to save them. Am I getting close?"

"Yes, I would," said Hinata in a quiet voice, "Thank you, Adam."

"Any time," said Adam, smiling, "I not only heal injured bodies. Injured souls are harder to fix than torn bodies."

"I understand," said Hinata, dipping her head, "Goodnight Adam."

"Goodnight, Hinata," said Adam, turning around again, "Try not to dwell on what Neji says."

It was near dawn when Sasuke was shaken gently awake. He was still half-asleep, but he recognised Adam's face, and he knew something was wrong. He sat up, scratching his head.

"Adam? What's going on?" he asked, stifling a yawn, barely.

"You and I are going to do some recon," answered Adam, standing up.

Sasuke was instantly awake, standing up and pulling on his clothes.

"Not those today," said Adam, gesturing at the shirt Sasuke was pulling over his head, "Although, officially you aren't meant to receive these until you complete half a century of duty, but I doubt anyone will complain." Adam reached behind him and pulled out a stealth Psyker garb. He tossed it to Sasuke, who caught it, stunned.

"I—I get to wear _these?_" he asked, staring at them.

"Well, I suppose you don't have to if you don't want to," said Adam with a sigh of exasperation, "But considering they make you almost impossible to spot, I thought it would be a good idea."

Even with his limited time with Adam as a teacher, Sasuke could tell that this was not a time for idle questions. Now was a time to watch, listen and learn. Adam was already dressed in his own stealth suit, walking towards the mouth of the cave. Sasuke followed him and stood behind him, slightly to the left.

"So where are we going?" he asked.

"Finally, a useful question," said Adam, "We are going to scout in a five hundred metre radius around the cave. If you come across _any_ Shinobi, you will report back to me, or if you can't find me, the cave and await my return. Meet back here in fifteen minutes."

Sasuke nodded and leapt off.

Adam was standing talking to Hinata and Kiba when Sasuke came back. He knelt behind Adam, and said, "Adam, did you find anything?"

"I did, actually," said Adam, turning around, "I was able to…acquire…two heaven scrolls for us. One for Hinata's squad, one for us."

"What happened to 'recon'?" asked Sasuke.

"I have almost a century and a half more experience than you. Neither enemy squad was harmed. They will wake today and find their scroll gone. That to you will learn in Psyker training: when to strike and when to stay your blade."

"I understand," said Sasuke, "So now we move directly to the tower, right?"

"That's what Kiba, Hinata and I were discussing. We have two options. Get another scroll and try to help the other Konoha rookie squad, or we go, as you said, to the tower."

"I think we should go to the tower," said Kiba.

"Didn't you say we need to stick together, Adam?" asked Hinata, turning to him.

"I suppose…" said Adam, "Sasuke, this comes down to you. As a Psyker, you will need to make decisions that will alter the fate of one or more lives. This is part of your training. Before you answer, think. If we don't help, the other rookie team might not make it, maybe even die, but we will be fairly safe, since we will be heading straight to the tower, no stopping. However, if we _do_ help, the chances increase of us getting caught by other Shinobi, including the Sand Ninja. But the other rookie squad has a better chance of surviving. Choose now."

"I—I don't know," said Sasuke, "Can I have some time to think?"

"Of course," said Adam, "Five seconds ought to do it."

"I think we should get a detachment of our group," said Sasuke slowly, "and help the other squad. The rest, the majority, will head to the tower. They will wait outside the doors for the detachment and the other rookies."

"Ah, Sasuke, you are beginning to think like a Psyker," said Adam with pride, "When presented with two options, the Psyker picks the third one. Now, pick who you think should do what."

"Um, Naruto, Hinata and I should help the other squad, while you, Sakura, Shino and Kiba head to the tower," said Sasuke.

"Uh-huh," said Adam, nodding slowly, "Why did you choose those people?"

"Me because I am, sort of, part-Psyker, Naruto because, at times he can be reliable and he wouldn't let the team down and Hinata because she has the Byakugon, so she can scout for enemies in front of us."

"A good line-up," said Adam, turning to Hinata, "You ok with that?"

"I am," she answered, "You just be careful."

"You know me," Adam grinned, "I always am."

"I should go with Sasuke and Hinata," said Kiba, turning to Adam, "Akumaru's and mine's sense of smell and hearing are better…"

"Sasuke has made his choice," Adam said firmly, "He has, I think, made the best choice. We need your skills in locating the other rookies anyway."

"What if I think Sasuke has chosen wrongly?" Kiba challenged.

"Then it's down to Sasuke to see if your idea is better," answered Adam simply.

"Kiba, you're going with Adam and the others," said Sasuke, looking Kiba in the eye.

"Sasuke, you're Blue Leader," said Adam, stopping Kiba before he could begin, "I'll be Red Leader. Keep in radio contact. Avoid any enemy Shinobi unless unavoidable. Get the other rookies, check what scroll they need, get the scroll, and double-time it to the tower. We'll be in a fifty metre radius around the tower, so as soon as you get there, we'll give you cover."

"Thanks, Adam," Sasuke said, dropping a hand on his shoulder.

Adam looked him in the eye, "You owe me another thanks," he said.

"Really, what for?" Sasuke asked.

"Saving your life," Adam said, rolling his eyes, "Again."

He flipped Sasuke around so their positions were reversed, Sasuke's back to the cave. A Fuma-clan shuriken, a super-sized version of the original, long as a man's arm, flew into Adam's back, making him stumble forward. The tip protruded from Adam's chest, but he was still smiling. "Run, back into the cave," he whispered, "Let me handle this." Sasuke nodded, grabbed Kiba and Hinata's hands, and ran back into the cave. Adam took a deep breath and turned.

"Where are you, invisible demon?" he whispered to himself, his enhanced eyes scanning the dark forest. He extended his right hand and yelled, "Buster Sword, to me!"

A huge sword, about two feet longer than Zabuza's had been, and almost a foot wider, materialized in his hand. For all its weight, he handled it as if it was nothing more than a kunai. He brought it down in front of him with a thunderous crash, burying at least half of it in the earth. "Buster Sword Shockwave," Adam whispered. A huge wave of energy pulsed outwards from the sword, shaking the trees around him so hard a few of the road-sized branches snapped off. He saw a small movement off to his left, and as he raised his left hand, palm outwards, he flipped the Buster Sword out of the ground with his right. "Psyker Bolt!" he yelled, and a ball of pure light and heat shot out of his left hand, illuminating the forest around them for a split second, before the bolt hit a tree and exploded with enough force to uproot the tree and fling it fifty metres away. It was all Adam needed, however, and he leapt towards the indistinct shape, grabbing it around the waist and starting a pile-driver into the ground, corkscrewing as he did. He impacted with the ground, making a crater five metres in diameter and throwing heaps of earth into the air. When the dust cleared, Sasuke and the others walked to the mouth of the cave and looked out. Adam was standing on the ground, his legs outstretched, which had flexed to take the shock of the ten metre fall; the person's head a millimetre from the ground. "Shikimaru Nara," he said, without any tone of surprise in his voice, the Fuma-Shuriken still in his back, "Squad ten, under the command of Asuma Sarutobi, from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. What brings you to our little camp? And where on earth did you manage to get a Fuma-clan shuriken?"


End file.
